


Multiple Seconds of Insanity (Episode 5)

by JB Harris (LizAna)



Series: The Timeless Chronicles [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Torchwood
Genre: Angst probably, Banter, Innuendo, M/M, Multiple captains, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, jack should know better by now, john hart being a twat, john hart calling ianto eye candy a lot, john hart getting everyone else into mischief, let's face it there's always angst, minor (accidental) drug use, the doctor dealing with companions who might as well be children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-03-29 21:10:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13935495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizAna/pseuds/JB%20Harris
Summary: (Not necessary to read previous works in the series before reading this, recap in intro) The Doctor, Ianto Jones and Captain Jack Harkness manage to track down John Hart, finding him drunk and uncooperative in the 38th century. However, John might be their only hope in getting the biochip removed from Ianto's mind and finding out what the Timeless are planning. John has his own issues, and isn't interested in helping them until he gets his problems taken care of. Jack reluctantly agrees to help him in exchange for a promise for John to give them information to help Ianto... but just what kind of trouble is John going to get them into?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a CoE fix it. The Doctor revives Ianto from the 456 virus and takes him a few hundred years ahead in time to investigate why people in the future know all about Ianto Jones and Captain Jack Harkness. Unfortunately, John Hart turns up (and is being controlled by someone else) and manages to implant a biochip into Ianto's head that compels him to kill Jack when he's finally reunited with him. Ianto and The Doctor head off in the TARDIS to find a cure, and come across a dying sentient ship -- Athena -- she attempt to save herself by trying to take over Ianto's mind and body, but they come to an agreement to share Ianto's mind until they can find somewhere (or someone) more suitable for Athena to occupy. On board the TARDIS, Athena is corporeal and anyone can see her through a hard-light projection. However, outside the TARDIS, Ianto is the only one who can hear or see Athena. Jack decides he shouldn't have let Ianto and The Doctor go off without him, so he catches up with them. Now, they'e going after John Hart to get answers about Ianto's biochip and the Timeless, a race who want to use Jack to achieve immortality.

**Chapter One**

Captain Jack Harkness kept waiting for his eyes to adjust to the alternating darkness and low flashes of coloured lighting, but in this kind of place, the ambience was kept disorientating on purpose. He was resisting the urge to pull Ianto into his side and not let go until they were out of here, but knowing the gorgeous Welshman, he’d only roll his eyes and get indignant about the fact he could take care of himself. Except Jack didn’t like the way some of the aliens and humanoids were eyeing Ianto as they made their way through the establishment; like Ianto was a tasty rare treat they’d love to get their hand—or tentacles, or other various appendages—on as soon as possible.

Jack could say without a doubt that Ianto was definitely the most delicious thing this side of the N’archt Quasar, but there was no way in hell he was letting anyone—anything—here find that out.

Fact was, being here was bringing back the kinds of memories he’d buried decades ago and hadn’t ever planned to see the light of day again. The 38th century brothel catered to every kind of proclivity, kink, and appetite ever heard of—both human and aliens. There were no lines here. A person came to a place like this, they were taking a risk that things could get out of hand no matter what they ended up wanting. Which only served to remind him that at one time he’d been far worse than even Captain John Hart—the quarry they’d come here to find. Once it would have been him dragging John through the doors and not caring what happened once they got inside. A lot of it he’d revelled in without second thought. Now, it left him fighting a slightly queasy feeling.

He'd spent a lot of time imagining the places he’d take Ianto if they ever got to see the galaxy and somewhere like this had not been one of them.

They finally reached the end of the long corridor, the room opening into a kind of bar. Music was playing low in the background, but there was still no escaping the fact of what kind of establishment this was. The “entertainment” could only be classified as X-rated, if this were Earth.

He paused, Ianto stopping on one side—close, he was gratified to note, close enough that their arms were pressed together. While The Doctor stopped on his other side, looking faintly disinterested in everything. Of course, there was no doubt The Doctor had nearly seen it all in her two thousand plus years of life.

“Are you sure he’s here?” Ianto asked looking right at him as if he was trying to avoid looking anywhere else.

Jack brought his arm up and flipped open the cover of his wrist-strap, scanning for the presence of another vortex manipulator.

“Over at the bar,” he replied. It was crowded, but he was sure he spotted a familiar head of dirty blond hair. “You and The Doctor go around, there’s a fifty-fifty chance he’ll run when he sees me.”

Ianto suddenly gave an exasperated sigh, glancing to the opposite side of himself where it looked like the air was empty, but Jack guessed Athena must have been standing.

“No, I don’t know what those three are doing, and honestly I really don’t want to.” Ianto was silent for a moment before he frowned. “No, I’m not going to ask Jack! Yes, he probably does know, but I’d prefer to live my life in ignorance.”

Jack leaned in closer, smirking in the direction he assumed Athena to be. “Ask me later when we’re back on the TARDIS, kiddo.”

“Jack,” Ianto warned in a long-suffering tone.

Reaching over, Jack trailed his fingers lightly across Ianto’s abdomen, feeling the muscle beneath Ianto's clothes contract in their wake. “I can give you a personal demonstration later if you want.”

Ianto glared at him, but he could see the hint of colour on his cheeks. “How about we go and get Captain Smarmy before he finds some other den of iniquity to slither into?”

Reaching around him to snag The Doctor’s arm—who shook her head at Jack like he was a lost cause—the pair of them headed off around the far side of the room to approach the bar from the back so if John tried to run, they could cut him off.

Jack waited, giving them a minute to get into position before he started navigating the crowd himself, heading for the figure that had to be John.

When he finally broke through the throng, his guess was confirmed—one Captain John Hart, who looked like the only thing keeping him upright was the bar itself and the aqua-skinned Heltorian leaning provocatively into his side.

Jack didn’t bother keeping the distaste off his face as he strode up and stood a few steps away with his arms crossed, waiting for John to realise he had company.

The Heltorian noticed him first and immediately left John’s side to sidle up to him with an approving hum that was almost a purr.

“Oi!” John exclaimed as he turned to see where his friend had gone. He squinted as he focused on Jack.

“Captain Jack Harkness in the flesh!” John exclaimed—or more like slurred, dragging a bottle of Hyper Vodka toward himself. “What brings this to a place like you?”

Jack shook his head. And caught the Haltorian’s hand since she was trying to slide it down his pants. They weren’t going to get a word of sense out of John in this condition. They’d have to drag him back to the TARDIS and wait for him to sober up—kicking and screaming if need be.

“John, you’re coming with me. We need to talk.” Some of the anger he’d been trying to keep under wraps over what John had done to Ianto crept into his voice and John straightened, gaze clearing for a second as if he’d finally comprehended what Jack being here meant.

“Now wait just a minute. Whatever Eye Candy told you—”

“He didn’t tell me anything at first. But I got a clue when he snapped my neck instead of kissing me.” Jack clenched his fists over the urge to punch John in his ruggedly handsome face. Ianto had been right, he was kind of smarmy these days, especially when he was this wasted.

John held up both hands and backed up a step while Jack tried to fend off the Haltorian again, who’d started tagging at his shirt buttons.

“Sorry,” he told the female. “But there’s only one person I’m interested in here tonight and it’s not you.”

“I could change your mind,” the Haltorian purred.

John made an exaggerated sad face. “Sharnee, come on, I thought we were making all kinds of depraved plans for an entertaining evening.”

“John, I just don’t think you’d have the same stamina as your friend here. He looks like he could just keep going.” She pressed more firmly into his side, body vibrating a little against him.

Jack gave a low, suggestive laugh. "You have no idea."

“Well, that’s bloody great, that is.” John took a long drink of the Hyper Vodka before wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his red jacket. “Tell you what, why don’t you two get to know each other while I go find another willing partner then we can all meet back here for a foursome.”

John swung around, putting himself off-balance and pausing to catch his balance on the bar before he took several steps.

“John,” he warned, but the other captain wasn’t listening.

However, John suddenly pulled to a halt as Ianto melted out of the crowd in front of him.

“Eye Candy. Should have known you’d be here somewhere. Hyper Vodka?” John offered the almost empty bottle, but Ianto just stared at him impassively. “Nope. Well, don’t suppose that orgy we never got around to is still on the cards?”

Ianto let a slight smile play over his face before abruptly pulling back and punching John square in the face.

He went down hard, and sprawled unconscious on the floor.

Jack eyed Ianto incredulously.

“You really had to punch him?” Truthfully, he was just jealous that he hadn’t been the one to put John’s lights out.

“I barely touched him,” Ianto replied in exasperation staring down at the prone captain. “He was so soused a stiff breeze could have knocked him down.”

“Yeah, but now we have to carry him out of here. He might look lean, but I can guarantee you he weighs a ton.”

“Carry… Drag. As long as we get some answers from him.” Ianto finally looked up at him, but his gaze cut across to the Haltorian who was still hanging off his side like a leech. “I see you’ve made a friend.”

Ianto stepped over John’s spread-eagled legs and came closer, his attention fixed on the alien with a sharp smile.

“Hello there. I’m sure you’re a very nice—”

“Haltorian,” Jack supplied for him in amusement, more than a little intrigued about where this as going.

“Haltorian,” Ianto repeated with a slight nod. “But I’d really appreciate it if you found someone else to hang off. You see, Jack is mine, and the last person who tried to get between us—”

Ianto hiked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate where John was laying behind him.

“It didn’t end very well for him.”

The Haltorian released her hold on Jack, but Ianto’s words had backfired, because she immediately launched herself at him, wrapping all four arms around him as she licked his neck.

“Mmm, you taste delicious,” she purred, her body vibrating even more now. “May I remove your outer accoutrements lick you all over?” 

“Maybe some other time.” Ianto tried to extract himself, grimacing as she licked him again. Except then he sagged a little in her arms, a slight _oh_ escaping him.

“And that would be a hit of the Haltorian sexual neurochemicals they transmit through saliva.” Jack reached out and firmly tugged the Haltorian away before she could slobber on Ianto again and make him any higher than he was already going to be. “Sorry, Sharnee, but you’ll have to find someone else to connect with tonight. Think I saw a group of Curnese across the bar when I got here.”

Sharnee made a chirping noise of interest and slipped off through the crowd.

He stepped closer to Ianto, eyeing him closely as Ianto stared back at him, looking a little dazed.

“Ianto? You okay?”

Ianto swallowed, shaking his head, though Jack got the feeling he wasn’t saying no, he was trying to clear his thoughts.

“I feel…” He reached up and quickly undid the top button on his shirt, tugging his tie loose as if he was overheating.

“I know.” Jack reached out and took his arm, drawing him closer. He’d slept with a Haltorian once, and it’d been one hell of a night. The high that came with that kind of sex was like nothing else in the universe, and in this century, right up to his own time in the 51st century, many humans—and other species—were addicted to Haltorians like they were an actual drug.

Lucky they were also a violent and aggressive race, or no doubt some enterprising person would have rounded them up and farmed them for the chemicals in their saliva.

“Come on, we better get you out of here.”

Ianto gave a jerky nod and then glanced down at where Jack was holding his arm.

“Um, Jack, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to touch me right now.”

“What? Why not?” He reflexively let him go, except Ianto slid a hand up his chest then fisted a handful of his shirt and yanked him closer.

“Because it makes me want to…” Ianto leaned in and kissed him, hard and brief, but then broke the kiss, shifting over to set his lips against Jack’s ear to tell him exactly what he wanted to do. By the time he was finished, Jack was practically shuddering.

Jack shifted back from him, because now was definitely not the time or place.

“Oh, Ianto, you have no idea how much I hate The Doctor’s no kissing on the TARDIS rule right now.”

Ianto’s gaze was intimate and heated as he stared at him. “We’re not on the TARDIS right now.”

Though it went against every instinct and was just about the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life Jack set his hands on Ianto’s shoulders and pushed Ianto well away from him so they were no longer touching anywhere.

“Once, I would have definitely taken advantage of you being high on alien sex drugs, but right now the fate of the universe might be in the hands of Captain John Hart. I really can’t believe I’m saying this, but Ianto, you’re not thinking straight, this isn’t what you want right now. Let’s get John and get out of here before we find any more trouble for ourselves.”

“Alien sex drugs?” Ianto repeated, brow creasing in the adorable way it always did when he was confused about something.

Jack couldn’t help laughing. He really was too gorgeous for words sometimes. “Don’t worry, it’ll wear off in a little while. I promise to make sure your virtue stays intact.”

Turning, he surveyed John before leaning down to haul him up and toss him over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

“Where the hell did The Doctor get to anyway?”

Ianto gestured vaguely back in the direction he’d come from. “Oh, she bumped into someone she knew. Want me to go and get her?”

He started to step away, but Jack caught him by the back of his waistcoat, keeping John steady with his other hand.

“Oh no, you don’t. You’re not leaving my sight. The Doctor can take care of herself. She’ll make her way back to the TARDIS when she’s ready."

Ianto shrugged and took Jack’s hand, a certain glint in his blue gaze that Jack knew well.

“Going back to the TARDIS sounds like a great idea.”

Jack rolled his eyes. If he managed to keep his hands off Ianto—and make sure Ianto kept his hands to himself—for the next few hours until the effects of the Haltorian wore off, he’d probably be eligible for sainthood.

As he led Ianto out of the brothel, he just hoped that John could give them the answers they needed. Because right now there wasn’t anywhere else in the universe he wanted to be except in the bunker under his office at the Torchwood hub in Cardiff, one very naked Ianto Jones in his arms. Unfortunately, until they stopped the race known as the Timeless in their quest for achieving immortality, he got the feeling he'd be taking a lot of cold showers.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Ianto impatiently tugged at his tie as he followed Jack—who was still carrying John Hart—through the doors of the TARDIS. His clothes felt too hot and tight, and all he could think of was stripping off so he could breathe properly. Well that and Jack--

He cut off the line of thought for the millionth time since they’d left the club or whatever it’d been, reminding himself that he’d been dosed with alien sex drugs and the last thing he should do was give in to the desire coursing through him. Not when Athena could feel everything he could. He’d let Jack get away with kissing him once or twice, but anything else just seemed too weird. He couldn’t see Athena as a sexual being. She was more like his sister. So there was no way he was going there with Jack when Athena might as well be participating for everything she could feel through their shared mind.

Just like him, he could tell Athena was agitated, though possibly not quite as badly. He supposed because it was his body that was affected, whereas she only shared his mind so the affects for her were probably secondary.

Jack went over and dropped John on the floor next to the railing that ran around the outside of the consul platform. He pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his coat pocket, leaving Ianto wondering why he’d been carrying them around. The logical answer would be to keep John Hart subdued, but his imagination was spinning off into all kinds of directions, most of them memories of other times Jack had pulled handcuffs out of his pocket and grinned at him with exactly the right amount of heat in his eyes.

Ianto shook his head to forcibly remove the image as Jack cuffed one end around John’s wrist and the other to the railing, leaving him slumped over.

“That should slow him down for at least a few minutes,” Jack muttered, before turning to face him. “Ianto, how are you doing?”

What was he supposed to say to that? The truth? That all he could think about was grabbing Jack by the lapels of that coat he loved so much, dragging him off to the nearest dark corner and shagging him until neither of them could stand up any longer?

“Fine,” he forced out abruptly, clearing his throat when his voice came out husky. “I’m fine.”

Jack grinned, clearly seeing right through the lie. He sauntered closer, making the coat swing around his legs and leaving the back of Ianto’s throat going dry.      

“You know, I might have something that will make you feel much better than just _fine_.” Jack reached him and slid his hands around his waist. That touch alone left Ianto shuddering, especially as Jack’s fingers found the gap between his waistcoat and pants, leaving heat from his hands burning through the thin material of his shirt.

“Do you want it?” Jack murmured almost against his lips.

“Oh God, yes. Please, yes.” Relief surged through him at the thought Jack was going to help him with the way his body ached all over.

Jack kissed him, not holding anything back, and Ianto moaned into his mouth, not caring about anything any longer—not John Hart and the information they needed from him, not The Doctor’s no kissing rule, not even Athena who was going to feel every intimate moment. He needed Jack in a way he’d never needed him before.

Jack started backing him toward the corridor and after a few stops and starts—including one very heated moment when Jack had briefly pressed him into the wall and he’d thought for a second it was all going to end there and then—they reached the bedroom they’d been using. Jack pushed him down on the bed, then paused to glance around.

“I’m thirsty. Are you thirsty?”

Ianto pushed up on his elbows and stared at Jack in confusion, his brain taking a second to assimilate the words. “I don’t know. A little I guess.”

Jack backed up a step. “I’m going to get us some water. We’re going to need it.”

“Now?” he demanded sitting up. “Jack, it can wait—”

“I’ll be one second. Don’t go anywhere.”

Before he could answer, Jack had left the room. Ianto sighed in frustration and flopped back onto the bed, feeling like there were fire ants crawling under his skin. He just needed Jack to take the edge off for him, then he’d feel more like himself.

“Here we go.” Jack returned with the water, walking over to set the jug and two glasses on the bedside table. Ianto sat up, unbuttoning his waistcoat and tossing it aside, then started on his shirt. Before he could finish, Jack turned to him and held out a glass of water. “Drink this.”

“Jack, I really don’t—”

“Come on, Ianto, just drink it.” Jack waggled his eyebrows at him. “Don’t want you getting dehydrated.”

“Fine,” he huffed, taking the glass and then gulping a mouthful under Jack’s watchful gaze.

“All of it,” Jack instructed in a firm voice that brooked no argument.

Ianto tilted his head back and downed the entire contents, if only to get Jack into bed quicker. A strange kind of sweetness lingered in the back of his throat as he handed the glass back.

Jack set it on the side table and then knelt down to start removing Ianto’s shoes and socks.

“I thought you were thirsty too.” He blinked slowly, his thoughts turning sluggish.

“You needed it more than I did, trust me.” Jack finished with his shoes and then urged him to lay back. He complied since his body was suddenly feeling heavy.

Instead of joining him, Jack tugged a blanket over him, gently tucking him in and then leaning down to kiss his forehead, trailing his fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes, feeling like he was floating.

“I like it when you do that,” he murmured sleepily as Jack’s fingers swept through his hair again.

“I know,” Jack replied and even though he had his eyes closed, Ianto could still hear the smile in his voice. “Get some rest, I’ll come check on you in a little while.”

Ianto thought he nodded, but couldn’t be sure, already slipping into a pleasant darkness as he heard the soft footfalls of Jack leaving the room. He snuggled deeper into the blankets, relaxing into sleep.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

***

Ianto woke slowly, head throbbing a little as he realised he had his arms around someone who had their head resting on his chest, while sweet-smelling hair tickled his nose. The weight was too slight to be Jack and he snapped his eyes open in confusion, but his mind was already giving him the answer before he set his gaze on her.

The last thing he remembered was Jack tucking him in after he’d drunk that glass of water—

“That bastard!” The burst of words startled Athena awake and she sat up, looking around in confusion.

“What happened?” She groggily pushed her hair out of her face.

“At an educated guess, I’d say Jack drugged me. Us. I guess it affected you too.”

Athena frowned. “But why would he—”

“Ah, you’re awake!” Jack bounded into the room and onto the bed, jostling both of them, making his head throb worse.

He pressed a hand against his temple and glared at Jack who was grinning back at him.

“What did you do?”

Jack arched an eyebrow at him in amusement. “I think the better question is what _didn’t_ I do?”

“Jack.” He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, hoping the throbbing would fade away.

“Ianto.” Jack teased in return, reaching out to take his hand.

Athena knelt up suddenly and shoved Jack in the shoulders, tumbling him over. “Stop being an ass!”

Jack laughed and gently pushed her back. “Language, young lady.”

Ianto shot out a hand to calm Athena. “You’re not helping my aching head. Neither of you are.”

She looked suitably chastised, sending him an apologetic glance. “Sorry.”

Shifting closer, she knelt up to run her fingers through his hair and gently massaged his scalp.

“Does this help?” she asked as she worked the tension away.

He released a long breath, nodding slightly under her hold.

“He likes it better when I do it.” Jack crossed his arms, a thwarted expression on his face.

“You lost your privileges when you drugged him,” Athena told Jack in a peeved voice.

“I counter-drugged him! And I was only trying to help.” Jack shoved a hand through his own hair, some of the amusement leaving his features. “Seriously, Ianto, I know how you feel about the situation with Athena. You would have regretted anything happening between us. If you didn’t get some relief, the symptoms would have only gotten worse. You'd have gotten _very_ uncomfortable. The only other option besides physical release was a mild sedative so you could sleep it off.”

“You could have just told me.” He reached up and grabbed Athena’s wrist, stopping her movements. She shifted to sit beside him again.

“I didn’t know if you were too far gone. You might have forced me.” Jack’s grin returned, this time with a hint of mischief. “You know I’m not averse to a bit of rough play, but I didn’t want you to end up feeling bad about yourself or embarrassed around Athena. Maybe I went about it the wrong way, but I did what I thought was best for you.”

Ianto sighed. He couldn’t stay angry at Jack when he’d just being trying to look after him in his own Jack Harkness way.

“Next time, try telling me.” He shifted in and pressed a brief kiss to Jack’s lips.

“If there’s ever a next time, I’m going to make sure we can follow through, because Ianto, it would have been mind-blowing.”

An answering flash of heat simmered through him at Jack’s words, leaving him thinking that maybe the drugs hadn’t all worn off after all. Jack didn’t notice, however. He got to his feet, tugging the blankets off him.

“Now, go have a shower, you’ll feel much better. Then we’ll see about coffee and dealing with John Hart.”

Ianto didn’t bother hiding his groan as he dragged himself to his feet. “A shower and coffee I’ll definitely take. John Hart? Not so much.”

Jack set a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We’re going to get some answers, Ianto. I know John isn’t your favourite person, but it’ll be worth it in the end.”

He cast Jack an unconvinced frown. “I’ll remind you of that when you revive for John killing you. Assuming I survive him blowing me up for a second time, or poisoning me, or shooting me, or any other number of ways he could double cross us.”

“He won’t get away with anything this time.” Jack squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “We’ll be watching every move he makes.”

“Still not convinced this isn’t going to go horribly wrong,” he muttered as he headed for the bathroom.

Jack’s low laugh followed him. “That’s what I need you for. Keep that scepticism going and we’ll be just fine.”

He didn’t reply as he shut himself into the bathroom. Jack might be a little blasé when it came to John Hart, but Ianto wasn’t going to relax his guard for a second.

Which turned out to be a wasted sentiment as he walked into the control room and found John Hart still slumped over in exactly the same way they’d left him a few hours ago.

“He’s still out of it then?” He put his hands on his hips as he regarded the prone figure.

Jack looked up from where he’d been flicking small screwed up pieces of paper at a glass screen with writing across it, reminiscent of ones they’d had in the hub. Athena was standing next to him, still seeming a bit miffed.

“Hasn’t moved a muscle. I did check he was still breathing a few times.” Jack shrugged and flicked another piece of paper that went wide.

“Well, nothing else for it.” Ianto went back down the corridor and returned a few seconds later carrying a bucket.

Jack scrambled to his feet. “Ianto, what—”

He didn’t let Jack finish as he upended the bucket filled with ice cubes and water onto John’s head. The other captain came around spluttering and swearing. He shook his head, sending droplets of water flying, then dragged a hand over his face before looking up and blinking blearily at him.

“Sodding hell, Eye Candy. Some needs to teach you the right way to bring a man around.”

“Oh, don’t worry, this way was completely satisfying for me.” He practically purred the words as he stepped back, leaving Hart arching an eyebrow at him.

Jack had stepped up to his side, arms crossed as he regarded John, who staggered unsteadily to his feet. He paused when his arm was jerked back by the cuff attaching him to the railing.

“Wet and handcuffed to the furniture. Starting to look like I’m going to have a very good night after all.” John patted his pockets and pulled a small vial out. Before either he or jack could work out what he was up to, he snorted the contents and then shuddered.

Jack snatched the now empty vial away. “What the hell are you taking now? You’re not even sober as it is.”

“Sober?” John laughed. “I haven’t been sobbed in, oh let’s see. Must be at least two months now.”

"How utterly shocking," Ianto replied in a deadpan voice that suggested otherwise. 

Jack touched his pinkie finger to the rim and then tasted a small portion of the crystalline powder. “Kimani dust? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Jack crushed the vial in his fist, fury in his expression.

“It’s the good stuff too, cost me a pretty penny, but guaranteed to keep you high for hours.”

“This stuff will kill you,” Jack practically growled. Despite all their history and John generally being an untrustworthy git, it was clear Jack still cared about him.

"Really?" Ianto drew out the word, adding an exaggerated note of excitement. "Then where can we find some more? I'll even pay for it."

Jack shot him a look that said he wasn't helping. 

John gave an uncaring shrug. “Figure it’s better than the alternative.”

Jack gave a disbelieving laugh. “What alternative is possibly worse than deep frying your brain with Kimani dust?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe having no sodding will of my own.” John pressed his fingers against the side of his head, pointing at himself. “Maybe being forced to do the biding of power hungry, maniacal egomaniacs. And that’s saying something since I used to work for the Time Agency.”

“Are you saying that when you’re high, your chip doesn’t work?” Ianto clarified, finally making sense of what John was ranting about… he hoped.

 “Course. How are you suppressing yours?” John sniffed and hitched up his belt with all his weapons, squinting at him. “You do look sadly sober, though. I’ve got something for that—”

“We don’t need your drugs.” Jack held up a hand with a sharp frown. “Ianto’s chip isn’t functioning correctly. You never did know how to stick around and make sure a job was done properly.”

“Oi!” John returned, sounding insulted. “That’s just rude. Seems to me like I'm owed a thanks or two. If I had made sure the chip implanted properly, you wouldn’t be standing here right now. Not alive, anyway, because Eye Candy would have killed you a time or two then handed you over to the Timeless.”

Jack crossed his arms and levelled a furious glare on John. “So you were fully aware of what the chip was going to do to Ianto?”

“Oh.” John had the good grace to look at least a little worried. “Can we just go back a few moments and pretend like I didn’t say that? Got a TARDIS, might as well put it to good use.”

Jack surged forward and grabbed John by the collar of his red coat, shoving him into the railing.

“This is not funny. You tried to betray me, and you know what happens to people who betray me.”

John's gaze slid over to Ianto, turning smug. “You take them to beg and shag them seven ways from Sunday. Sounds good to me.”

Jack shoved him harder, making John swear in pain.

“You were going to cut a deal with the Timeless to work out the secret to my immortality? Well, guess what, John? It was for nothing. I’m a fixed point in time. It can’t be replicated. Not by you, not by anyone.”

“The Timeless say otherwise. And I wasn’t going to betray you, Jack. I didn’t even want you involved. How was I supposed to know those bastards—”

“You don’t get it, John!” Jack shoved him one more time and then stepped back. “Immortality is a curse. No one should have that power. No one should carry that burden.”

John scoffed. “What, you’re trying to tell me you’d give it all back if you could?”

“In a heartbeat,” Jack returned without hesitation.

Ianto had to hold himself still, resisting the urge to go over and set a comforting hand on Jack. He knew how painful this had to be for him, but right now he was also angry and wouldn’t be likely to accept any kind of comfort, no matter who was offering.

John shook his head, almost as if he pitied him. “Did you ever think eternity wouldn’t be so bad if you had someone to share it with? Or a whole race of someone’s?”

“A race of unstoppable, unkillable people bent on universal domination. Sure, I don’t see how that would be a problem for anyone.” Jack turned on his heel and strode from the console room, anger in every line of his body. Athena immediately got up to follow after him.

“You’re an idiot,” Ianto told John, before heading after them.

“Hey! So that’s it then, you’re just going to leave me handcuffed here? What if I need to take a piss?”

“There’s a bucket right there,” he tossed over his shoulder, not really meaning it. He’d return to deal with John Hart in a few minutes, after he made sure Jack was okay.


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor strolled onto the TARDIS, tossing her coat over the railing with a flourish as she hummed the song that’d been stuck in her head for the past hour. There was a man sitting on the floor, handcuffed to the railing not far from where her coat landed—presumably John Hart. She hopped over his legs and then skipped over to the console, throwing some levers and pressing some buttons, breathing life into her ship and sending them into the time vortex.

“Well now,” a voice drawled behind her. “Jack always does find the prettiest friends. You must be one of The Doctor’s companions. Heard the man knew how to catch a looker.”

“Wrong on all counts, Mr Hart,” she returned in a cheery voice as she input some coordinates into the TARDIS computer.

“That’s _Captain_ Hart.”  He’d climbed to his feet, experimentally tugging his arm against the cuff attached to the railing, as if debating how he was going to get himself free. “Out with it then, if you’re not one of The Doctor’s companions, then what does that make you?”

She did a lap around the console to make sure her destination was set and then approached John Hart, pulling her sonic screwdriver out and pointing it at his head. He flinched, holding up a hand as if he thought it was some kind of weapon. Considering the kind of man he was, people pointing weapons at his head was probably a daily occurrence. When she only scanned him, a sheepish grin crossed his face as he relaxed again.

“Whatever you’re looking for, sweet cakes, all you have to do is ask,” he drawled, sending her a practiced leer.

She ignored him, checking the results of her scan. “Kimani dust, hyper vodka, MacKeanty scotch, _and_ anxiolytic suppressors. I’m amazed you have a functioning liver.”

“My liver is exceptional. Just like the rest of me.”

“Good god, you’re as bad as Jack.” The last thing she needed was two swaggering former Time Agents on the TARDIS.

“Nope. I’m better than Jack.” He sidled nearer, as close as his attachment to the railing would allow. “Care to find out how much better?”

“Jack Harkness!” She hollered, setting her hand on John’s forehead and pushing him back a step.

Jack came running a second later. “What is it? What happened?”

Ianto and Athena appeared behind, almost colliding into Jack who’d stopped abruptly.

“Your pet is being unruly.” She took another glance at her screwdriver as she spun away from the John, while Jack deflated a little, obviously having thought there was some kind of emergency. “And apparently his chip is being suppressed by the cocktail of substances in his body. Interesting.”

Jack crossed his arms, glancing up at the TARDIS as the time rotor spun and flashed with light.

“And where are we headed now, Doctor?” Jack asked as he stepped up to the console, checking one of her screens.

“ _Doctor_?” John Hart gave a laugh. “Well, colour me surprised. I heard The Doctor was a man. Not that I’m picky—”

“Yes, we all know you’d have sex with an inanimate object if you thought it was looking at you the right way,” Ianto cut in with an exasperated glare before John could finish whatever he’d been saying.

“Traltex Beta Twenty Nine,” Jack read out loud from the console screen. “Why are we chasing down some glorified space freighter?”

“Let’s not do that,” John interjected, a note of worry in his voice that drew everyone’s attention.

They all stared at him in silence for a long moment.

“Or, you know, do. Makes no mind to me.” John turned, making himself look busy as he fiddled with the cuff on his wrist.

“Let me guess,” Jack huffed, crossing his arms. “They want to kill you. Or you double crossed them. Or you stole something from them—”

“Or you were just being yourself and completely pissed them off,” Ianto finished for Jack with a smug smile.

Jack cut Ianto a lightly admonishing look before turning his attention back to John.

“You forgot option D.” John leaned idly against the rail, kicking a leg out in front of himself.

Jack arched an eyebrow at him. “Dare I ask what option D is?”

John opened his mouth to answer, but Ianto beat him to it. “That would be all of the above.”

“How did you deduce that, Mr Jones?” The Doctor asked as John sent Ianto a thwarted frown at having his thunder stolen.

“Because I’m brilliant,” Ianto returned with a self-depreciating smile, as if trying to convey it was merely a fact, not a boast.

The Doctor gave an affectionate laugh. “That you are. And to answer your earlier question, Jack, the reason we’re going to track down Traltex Beta Twenty Nine is because I heard some very interesting information this evening. Bumped into Pixie Truscott in that club of yours, Mr. Hart. Don’t let the name fool you, Pixie used to captain a freighter through some of the most lawless stretches of space. I came across her stranded on the fifth moon of Dwight after she’d fought off a particular nasty bunch of Grogonian bounty hunters who were after the cargo she—”

The Doctor paused as she saw Jack and Ianto share a knowing glance.

“What?” she asked as Jack started grinning and Ianto simply shook his head.

“Nothing,” Ianto replied. “Now I know where Jack gets it from.”

Obviously it was some in-joke the two of them shared. “Gets what?”

“Never mind, continue.” Ianto waved his hand in a go-on kind of gesture.

“Are you sassing me, Mr Jones?” She crossed her arms and levelled a reproving look on him. 

“Never,” Ianto replied smoothly. Too smoothly. A small smile quirked up his lips. “You were saying?”

“I was saying that Pixie is friends with the captain of the Traltex Beta Twenty Nine, and over drinks one night, they had been discussing some of the items the crew had procured for a certain anonymous client who has some kind of space station way out in no man’s space, lightyears past the Frevaros Belt. Things like mercury, a rare ore called Zeiton 7, quantum particle transducers, and a device that harnesses artron energy.”

Jack swore a string of curses, obviously having started putting the pieces together in his mind, leaving Ianto staring at him in surprise.

“Which means what exactly?” Ianto asked, concern colouring his voice as he glanced between the two of them.

“Someone is trying to build some kind of time machine,” Jack answered.

“Bingo.” The Doctor pointed at him, but then reconsidered for a moment. “Well, almost bingo. They could also be trying to build a device that accesses the time vortex, as opposed to actual time travel, but still! All things that should not be put together by just any crackpot who thinks time is a playground just waiting to be explored. Well, it is rather like a playground, if the play equipment were unexploded bombs and black holes and reapers—”

“Doctor,” Jack prompted, cutting into her rambling thoughts. She blinked at him before she remembered what she’d been talking about.

“So, we’re going to land right inside Traltex Beta Twenty Nine, do a little investigating to see if we can work out who is behind these acquisitions, what they’re planning to do with it and whether they’re close to having a functioning device, then I’ll decide whether we need to intervene.”

Concern edged into Jack’s expression as he stared at her. “Doctor, not to be impatient, but Ianto—”

“Is fine,” Ianto interrupted gently before she could reply. He walked over and took Jack’s hand. “I’ve survived this long, and I’ve got Athena. A little detour isn’t going to hurt anything.”

“You obviously don’t have much experience with The Doctor’s detours,” Jack grumbled.

“Oh, I have a little experience. Athena, remember?” Ianto nodded toward the girl who was perched on the railing nearby, swinging her legs, head tilted back as she watched the TARDIS flash and the time rotor spin above them. The Doctor studied her more closely, realising Athena was possibly communicating on some level with the ship. The TARDIS certainly seemed to be humming with a slightly different resonance.

“This is important, Jack,” The Doctor told him as she returned her attention to him, settling a serious stare on him. “You know I wouldn’t be taking time away from helping Ianto unless it was serious.”

Jack huffed a sigh, his shoulders dropping slightly. “I know. Sorry, I shouldn’t have questioned you, it’s just that—”

“You love him and you’re worried. I understand.” She stepped closer to him. “Ianto Jones is an easy man to love, Jack. Don’t worry, we’re going to help him. Just as soon as we make sure some imbecile isn’t about to tear a hole in the time vortex.”

She glanced over at Ianto who had a light flush of red across his cheeks. He sent her a somewhat shy smile, blue eyes shining, gorgeous as ever. For everything that Jack had been through, and would go through in the future, she was glad that for this short time, he’d found Ianto. She couldn’t imagine how devastated Jack had been after he’d believed Ianto had died from the 456 alien virus. She only wished she could have taken Ianto straight back, to the very day he’d died. But time was tricky that way. Events that had needed to unfold in a certain way meant she’d been forced to take him forward. It was unfortunate that Jack had been forced to live nine years without him, while for Ianto, it had barely been a day. Nevertheless, they were together again now, and it was easy to see the contentment in Jack, the way Ianto effortlessly grounded him. At the same time, it was almost as if Ianto took on some of Jack’s energy. With Jack around, he was even more irreverent and quick witted, and his already obvious inner strength was bolstered until it almost shone from him. She hoped they’d get to spend at least a few decades together before time and mortality came between them.

The TARDIS made a familiar whooshing noise, signalling that they’d arrived at their destination.

“Here we are then!” she announced, returning a few levers to their standby position and powering down the console. “Traltex Beta Twenty Nine awaits.”

Jack stepped toward John Hart, who’d remained uncharacteristically quiet. But when Jack went to reach for the cuffs, John avoided his grasp.

“If it’s all the same, I’ll stay here. Keep an eye on the ship. Wouldn’t want some reprehensible person getting in here.”

“There already _is_ a reprehensible person in here,” Ianto muttered.

Jack crossed his arms and levelled an accusatory frown on John. “What did you do?”

“Why do you assume I’m at fault? How do you know they didn’t do something to upset me?” John demanded indignantly.

Jack and Ianto shared a glance before they both burst into laughter, which only made John look more annoyed.

“Fine.” John threw up a hand in defeat. “I shagged the captain’s wife and both the captain’s sons and then I stole a kontron crystal they were transporting.”

The Doctor froze, mind spinning with the implications of this. “They’d sourced a kontron crystal?”

“What’s a kontron crystal?” Ianto asked, the curiosity obvious in his voice.

“A TARDIS uses it to draw power from the surrounding universe,” The Doctor answered him.

“But it won’t work unless its charged with the life force of a time lord, right?” Jack looked to her for confirmation.

“In a TARDIS, no, but unfortunately they can still be utilised in other ways when it comes to the time vortex.”

“Worth a small fortune, they are,” John put in like money was the only thing that mattered.

“Please tell me you didn’t sell it for drugs,” Jack said, almost sounding in pain at the idea.

“Course not!” John immediately shot back. “I’m not completely daft. I hid it somewhere safe.”

“And that would be…?” Jack prompted.

John avoided his gaze, apparently finding everywhere else fascinating all of a sudden. “Well, you see, I was high at the time—way more baked than I am now—and I don’t actually remember where I hid it. But you know me, creature of habit and all, can’t be that many places I'd have left something so valuable.”

“You might not be daft, but you are a moron,” Ianto uttered into the silence that followed, disbelief heavy in his tone.

John made an exaggerated expression of being upset. “Harsh, Eye Candy.”

“But accurate,” Jack said in a tight voice before turning to The Doctor. “We need to find that crystal.”

She nodded slowly as her thoughts spun. “First, we see what we can find out about who wanted the kontron crystal, and then we work out where John hid it. Once we’re sure there’s no unstable time devices out there, we can get on with solving our issue with the biochip.”

John stared at her, gaze calculating. “If I cooperate, will you remove my biochip as well?”

“You’re going to cooperate anyway,” Jack practically growled at him.

“You’ll catch more spiders with honey. Or whatever that saying is.” John waved a dismissive hand.

Ianto stared at him with unconcealed contempt. “It’s _flies_. Why would you want to catch spiders?”

“Why would you want to catch flies?” John countered, earning an epic eye-roll from Ianto.

Shaking his head, Ianto tugged on Jack’s arm, pulling him away from John. “Let’s go before I give in the urge to shoot him. Gwen’s not here to stop me this time.”

“Gwen stopped you from shooting John?” Jack asked, arching both eyebrows. “When did that happen?”

“When he blew up half of Cardiff and you were buried two thousand years in the past. Right now, I’m seriously regretting not following through on my threat to kill him slowly.”

Jack actually looked impressed. And a little turned on. “You need to tell me all the details later on.”

“Later being the important sentiment,” The Doctor grabbed her coat and led them to the doors of the TARDIS. “Let’s see what we can find out on Traltex Beta Twenty Nine.”


	4. Chapter 4

Jack followed The Doctor through the doors of the TARDIS, stepping out into what looked to be some kind of mess hall or galley for the crew of the ship. The lights were dim, as if the ship had been partially shut down to auxiliary power.

“Very quiet,” The Doctor commented as she strolled around, poking into places and generally being nosey as usual.

Ianto cast him a warning glance. “If you say _too quiet_ , I will hit you.”

Jack pouted at him, but knew he wasn’t keeping the amusement out of his eyes. “And that would be considered boyfriend abuse.”

This earned him a disbelieving arched eyebrow while Athena rolled her eyes in a very Ianto-like way. They were still standing within the TARDIS’ outer shields, meaning Athena was still corporal.

He laughed and tugged Ianto closer. “Don’t you like me calling you my boyfriend?”

Ianto wrinkled his nose a little. “It’s a bit— I don’t know.”

“Well, I suppose I could come up with a few other names.” He sent Ianto a wink. “Some of them might not be fit for company, though.”

“Hop to it! We need to find some crew and some answers,” The Doctor said before Ianto could answer. She’d already gone over to the hatchway, pulling it open. They set off after her, Athena disappearing as they stepped from beyond the shields.

The outer corridor leading to other parts of the ship proved to be just as dim. The Doctor held up her sonic screwdriver, frowning as she took some kind of scan.

“I’m not getting any readings for life signs on board,” she muttered, almost to herself.

“Well, this is starting to feel creepily familiar.” Ianto shifted closer to Jack as they walked, their shoulders brushing. “Please tell me we’re not going to find any flesh-eating mechanical insects. Once was definitely enough.”

The Doctor tossed a smile over her shoulder, but Jack could see it was strained around the edges. “We couldn’t possibly be so lucky, Mr Jones. But just to be sure, I’ve scanned for several other signs of life, however it looks like this ship is very empty.”

“Maybe the crew are on leave?” Jack offered. “Is the ship docked somewhere?”

“Drifting in the middle of space.” The Doctor tapped her sonic screwdriver against her chin. “Hmm, maybe I should have taken the fact she was drifting as a hint.”

“You think?” Jack shot her an annoyed look as he pulled out his gun. “Ianto, are you armed?”

“No, lost the one I had when—well, you know,” Ianto answered, and Jack had to work hard not to let the memories of the day he’d succumb to the 456 alien virus into his thoughts as he focused on the shadows ahead of them. “I’ve not had an opportunity to replace it since,” Ianto finished, sounding like he was really wishing that wasn't the case.

The Doctor rolled her eyes. “Really Jack, you and guns.”

He didn’t let her obvious disapproval worry him in the least. “As someone who has died more times than I can possibly count, you will never convince me that carrying a gun isn’t a good idea.”

He stepped a little ahead of Ianto, ready and willing to take any threat that came at them since he could recover and Ianto very definitely couldn’t.

The silence between them was tense as they made their way through the ship, finding no sign of life, just as The Doctor’s scan had shown, but also no clue as to what might have happened to the crew. The ship seemed to be functioning fine—simply on standby, running on auxiliary power. There were no signs of a fight or struggle, and thankfully no dead bodies. It really seemed like the crew had just decided to leave. But why abandon a perfectly good ship in the middle of nowhere? A shiver skittered down his spine. He could come up with any number of reason, and none of them were good.

“Doctor, what are you thinking?” he asked as they reached another intersecting corridor and she picked a direction like she had a destination in mind.

“The bridge is the most likely place to find answers. Even if we can’t work out where the crew went, we should be able to access the ship’s navigational logs and find out where they’ve been delivering their cargo.”

“Could that be it, though?” Ianto asked from where he was walking at his shoulder. Jack glanced back to look at him in the dim light.

“What do you mean?”

“John Hart stole their kontron crystal. Maybe whoever they were meant to be delivering it to weren’t happy about it.”

“And killed the entire crew?” Well, he’d seen worse things in his years travelling the universe and time vortex, he supposed. “It’s extreme, but not entirely impossible.”

“Which means they could be after John Hart as well,” Ianto concluded. “Who is currently handcuffed to the TARDIS.”

The Doctor glanced back at him, concern in her expression, probably the same worry reflected in his own expression.

“We should probably hurry then,” he told The Doctor, even though he could see her thinking the same thing.

She sent him a tight nod, and they increased their pace, making their way to the ship’s bridge. When they arrived, The Doctor went straight over to the console, while Jack hung back by the hatchway with his gun poised at the ready. Not that he didn’t trust The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver telling them no one else was on board, but he’d prefer not to be caught completely unaware if that turned out not to be true.

Ianto joined The Doctor at the controls. She used her sonic screwdriver to light up the panel, and then started shooting off instructions at Ianto to help her quickly upload the ship’s navigational logs and any other data that might give them a clue as to what had happened to the crew, sending all the information straight to the TARDIS. Despite not being familiar with the technology, Ianto held his own, flawlessly following The Doctor’s instructions and quickly figuring things out when he needed to fill in the blanks. Jack had always known Ianto was highly intelligent, even though he’d often deflected or hidden the depth of his mind’s abilities, but even his was impressed with Ianto’s deftness as he helped The Doctor.

Just as they were finishing up, some kind of alarm chimed to life, while above them, orange warning lights began flashing.

“What did you do?” he asked The Doctor, sending her an exasperated frown.

“We didn’t do anything,” she replied, emphasizing the fact that Ianto had been right there pressing as many buttons as she had been. “It’s a proximity alert.”

Jack left his post at the door, hurrying over to check one of the screens, pulse picking up speed. “What kind of proximity alert?”

“The hostile kind.” The Doctor’s hands were flying over the controls now, her movements almost manic. “I’m going to direct power away from everything else and boost shields to maximum. They won’t stop the ship being destroyed, but hopefully it'll give us enough time to make it back to the TARDIS.”

“Destroyed?” Ianto demanded as Jack elbowed his way into next to him, checked where The Doctor was up to and then hurriedly helped her redirect the remaining systems.

“Weapons already locked on to our position,” he murmured watching as the console calculated time until first impact. “Less than three minutes.”

“Shouldn't we already be running?” Ianto took a few steps back, but clearly wasn’t going to leave without them.

“Yes, we should,” Jack overrode a few last systems and then spun to face him. “So let’s go already. With the shields boosted, we’ve got five minutes to get back to the TARDIS.”

“But it took us fifteen minutes to walk here!” Ianto gestured at the controls. “Can’t we shoot back at them or something?”

Jack took his arm and tugged him into motion as The Doctor finished up. “This is a freighter. It doesn’t have weapons.”

“But what good is getting back to the TARDIS?” Ianto demanded in a tight voice as they sprinted. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s inside the ship that’s about to get blown to smithereens.”

“The TARDIS has her own shields,” The Doctor answered. “She can withstand much more than a few volleys from some half-rate plasma cannon.”

“Plasma cannon?” Ianto repeated in disbelief.

“Less talking, more running!” The Doctor ordered, speeding up a little.

Ianto apparently didn’t need to be told twice. They pounded along the corridors, Jack trying not to check the time counting down on his wrist strap every thirty seconds, because it was going to be close. Way too close to call. Half way there, the ship shuddered, the already dim lights flickering. They all stumbled, Jack catching his balance against the nearby wall and pulling Ianto against him momentarily, ducking as sparks exploded from short circuiting cables.

The sparks had barely stopped raining down before they were running again, struggling as the floor seemed to be bucking beneath them. Jack kept hold of Ianto, more for his own peace of mind than the worry Ianto couldn’t keep up or take care of himself.

The hatchway to the galley where they’d left the TARDIS came into sight, just as another shudder ripped though the ship, this one even more violent and accompanied by a distant roar that was growing closer and louder. They burst through the hatchway, stumbling the last few steps, throwing themselves through the doorway of the TARDIS as the ship broke apart and exploded around them.

Jack went down, Ianto falling half on top of him while the TARDIS rumbled and shook ominously around them. The Doctor stumbled to her knees, but then got straight back up again, rushing over to the console to fire up the engines.

Ianto gripped a handful of his shirt, pulling himself closer and Jack looked over, wrapping an arm around him.

“It’s okay, we’re safe. The TARDIS shields are made of pretty strong stuff.”

Ianto nodded and closed his eyes for a moment, blowing out a long, uneven breath.

“Sorry,” he murmured. “That was close. I seem to be having trouble shaking off the near misses these days, not like I used to be able to do. I suppose dying will do that to a person.”

Jack’s heart skipped a beat and he set his palm against Ianto’s cheek, making him open his eyes again.

“Funny, but I’m feeling exactly the same way.” He’d spent nine years thinking he’d lost Ianto, and now that he was intimately acquainted with exactly how that felt, he wasn’t interested in experiencing it again any time soon. In fact, the thought was downright terrifying. Yet he also knew it wasn’t fair to wrap Ianto up in cotton wool and never let him do anything again. Where that left him, left them, he had no idea. But now certainly wasn’t the time to be figuring that out.

He leaned over and kissed Ianto, briefly but hard, then let him go to roll to his feet. Athena was standing next to The Doctor in front of the console, while John was leaning against the railing he was handcuffed too, almost looking bored as he sipped from a silver flask.

“Problem?” John drawled when he met Jack’s gaze.

“Some friends of yours, I’m guessing.” Jack pulled his coat straight and led Ianto over to The Doctor. “Did the TARDIS take any damage?”

“Scans seem to indicate we’re fine,” she replied distractedly.

“Any clue who they might have been?” he asked, except then something else occurred to him. “Do you think they know we got away?”

“I’d say it’s very likely they know we escaped, I didn’t have time to conceal the jump out. And I’ve got absolutely no idea who they are. The shielding on their ship is like nothing I’ve ever seen. There's very few forcefields in the universe the TARDIS can’t penetrate to scan, but apparently they have one of them.”

“And possibly the means to build a device to access the time vortex,” he concluded, foreboding sitting heavy in his stomach. “Whoever this is, they’re not playing around.”

“Could it be them?” Ianto asked in a low, quiet voice that nevertheless gained everyone’s attention. “The Timeless?”

“I though the Timeless wanted to capture you, not kill you," Athena put in. 

“Could have worked in their favour, though,” The Doctor answered, not looking at them as she concentrated on the control console. “Because Jack wouldn’t have died. Well, not permanently anyway. They could have simply swooped in and fished him out of the debris field after.”

The idea left him cold, the chill radiating from deep within him; that Ianto and The Doctor could have so easily been killed just so the Timeless could get to him.

“If that’s true, then everything, all of this—”

“Is a trap,” The Doctor finished, not sounding all that concerned about it.

A potent mix of fury and disbelief ignited hotly in his chest and he slowly turned to face John Hart, who took one look at his face and held up his hands in surrender, even as Jack started stalking toward him.

“Whoa now, don’t go getting your panties in a bunch, I didn’t know anything—”

Jack wrapped a hand around his neck, cutting off the words. “Don’t bother telling me you don’t know anything about it. It doesn’t matter. You did this. You told them about me—”

John gave a strangled laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself, Jack. You really think they didn’t already know? You don’t think they haven’t been watching you for decades? Testing you? Interfering in that quaint little life you had in Cardiff?”

“What?” Shock rattled through him and his grip slackened, leaving John to wrench out of his hold.

John took a breath, but his shoulders slumped, until he almost looked defeated. “They’ve been planning this for longer than you can imagine, Jack. They know things about you that you don’t even know about yourself. I might have got caught up in the final strategy, but make no mistake. You, Jack, are the endgame none of us are going to escape.”


	5. Chapter 5

“This has got to be the place.” John Hart hitched up his weapon belt, staring up at the building that seemed to be constructed from some kind of futuristic shipping containers stacked on top of each other.

“You said that the last four places we went to,” Ianto replied, not bothering to keep the irritation our of his voice.

“And if it’s not here?” Jack asked from where he stood next to Ianto with his arms crossed over his chest, shoulders tight. He’d been on edge, clearly tense ever since John had told him the Timeless had been monitoring him, testing him for decades, interfering in his life in ways they’d never known about. Ianto wasn’t sure if he believed it. Or maybe it was more a fact of not wanting to believe it. Because it made him go back and question every Torchwood case they’d dealt with—the easy, every day stuff like weevils, and the world-ending events like Abaddon. If he was feeling so undermined by the notion, he couldn’t begin to imagine how much worse Jack was feeling it.

For the time being, though, they’d had to put the issue aside because tracking down where John Hart had hidden the kontron crystal was a more immediate concern. They’d been hoping all over the universe and through time for hours, checking places John Hart liked to stash his valuables. They’d found all sorts of things—including some kind of futuristic gun that’d belonged to Jack. His favourite during the years he’d been with the Time Agency. Apparently the old turn-of-the-20th-century revolver that Jack favoured now wasn’t the first weapon he’d become emotionally attached to. When he’d found it, Jack had silently scowled at John, who’d just shrugged and offered a sheepish smile. The gun was now holstered on Jack’s belt next to the Webley, and though Ianto had never considered himself to have any kind of weapon fetish, he had to admit Jack looked hot with the deadly looking gun slung casually at his hip.

Jack waved a hand toward the ramshackle building in a decidedly underwhelming part of the 29th century city they were standing in. On the moon, which had apparently been colonized at some point. Every so often, Ianto told himself he really should take the time to be more amazed by the things he was seeing, but his worry over Jack and aggravation toward John Hart pretty much eclipsed any other consideration.

“Age before beauty,” John smirked at Jack. “Or we could go beauty before age this time. That way we can let Eye Candy go first and I get to watch his arse in those trousers—”

Jack yanked out his newly recovered gun and pointed it at John’s chest, the weapon making some kind of buzzing noise as it powered up. “How about the idiot who can’t remember when he hid the kontron crystal goes first before I shoot him?”

“You’re no fun anymore,” John muttered before mounting the three steps leading up to the double front doors of the building. “Still don’t see why Blondie didn’t come with us. She’s much more entertaining than you two.”

“And I’m fairly certain if The Doctor heard you calling her Blondie, she’d toss you out the TARDIS doors next time we’re in the time vortex and leave you for dead,” Ianto told him cheerfully, the mental picture of exactly that happening improving his mood immediately.

“Wouldn’t die,” John replied distractedly with a shrug as they started up some narrow stairs. “Not technically. I would get scattered across all of time and space, however.”

“Which is something no one wants,” Jack replied, putting his gun away, but leaving his hand resting on the grip like he thought he might need it again in a hurry. “The Doctor stayed on the TARDIS because if the Timeless are backing us into some kind of trap, then we need to work out what we’re up against.”

John turned to face him, walking up a few steps backwards. “What if their plan is for you to work out that they’re trying to trap you, so then you think you know what they know, but they know you know, so they’re planning something else altogether?”

For a second Ianto stared at John Hart and the steaming pile of BS logic that’d just come out of his mouth before looking at Jack in concern. “Should I be worried that what he just said made complete sense to me?”

Except Jack was glaring at John with impatience and aggravation. “John, if you know something— If you’re playing us—”

“Come now, lover. Would I do that?” The words were all but purred. 

Both Jack’s eyebrows went up toward his hairline in clear disbelief.

“Alright, fine. I would play you. Both of you. But in a way we’re all sure to enjoy.” John sent them a practised leer that made Ianto want to punch him.

He sent a long-suffering glance to Jack. “Can we shoot him, _please_? We don’t really need him to find the crystal, do we?”

Jack flipped open the holster of his Webley. “Maybe just a small flesh wound—”

“Alright!” John held up both hands. “Okay. I’m really not playing you. If you won’t believe anything else, believe I want this sodding chip out of my head sooner rather than later. Despite appearances to the contrary, being sloshed for two months straight is not all shits and giggles.”

He turned on the steps and proceeded to stomp up them like a stroppy bastard. Jack sighed as he followed, shooting Ianto an apologetic glance. Ianto took a moment to grab a calming breath before going after them. John Hart was a walking headache. The sooner they could find the crystal and get the chip dealt with so they could all go their separate ways, the better. And maybe he could convince The Doctor to leave John Hart stranded in the most remote place in the universe so it was at least a few decades before they had to worry about him crashing into their life and causing trouble.

At the top of the stairs, there was a small open area with three doors. John stepped up to the one on the left and accessed some kind of keypad. He shot a pointed look at Jack, who was standing at his shoulder. Jack muttered a curse, before averting his eyes, while John shifted around, using his body to block whatever buttons he was pressing. Like either of them would ever come here to break into his seedy dosshouse or whatever it was.

The door popped open and John stepped forward to push through it. The flat was one open space—wash facilities in one corner, kitchenette in the opposite corner, bed and sofa crammed in the middle. It was far from clean, but not the worst place they’d seen on this little trip into John’s life that Ianto happily could have done without. John went over to one of the walls and pulled down a picture to reveal a hidden compartment. He spent a few moments rummaging through it, muttering under his breath.

“Let me guess, you can’t find it.” Ianto put a sarcastic note of surprise in his voice.

“Bollocks,” John muttered, turning around to kick at a nearby box, making whatever was inside rattle.

Jack crossed his arms and settled an impatient look on John. “How many more of your stash houses do we have to visit before we find it?”

“This is it,” John flung out an arm to indicate the room. “If its not here, then I’ve honestly got no idea where it is.”

“John—” Jack practically growled the word, taking a menacing step forward, but stopped when the door banged open and four men with guns burst in. Ianto quickly back up until he was standing at Jack’s side, wishing yet again that he’d managed to acquire his own weapon at some point.

“Salizar.” John turned, surprise and confusion flitting over his face. “What are you doing here, mate?”

“Looking for you, Hart. We’ve had eyes on this place for months. Knew you’d have to be back eventually,” one of the men—presumably Salizar—answered.

“You’ll have to excuse us and all that. No time for catching up. Just here to grab a few things then I’m off again.” John started walking forward, but Salizar pointed his gun directly at him. 

“You’re not going anywhere,” Salizar said menacingly.

“John, what the hell is going on?” Jack asked in a low voice, frustration clear in his voice. Probably because the last thing they needed was to get dragged into more of John Hart’s drama.

“Just a misunderstanding,” John said with a smile that was clearly forced.

“Misunderstanding?” Salizar all but yelled. “You promised to marry my daughter, slept with her, took the Vernetian sapphires that were her inheritance and then left. Not to mention the marriage certificate was a fake!”

“Bloody hell, he really is a moron.” Ianto dropped his head back to stare at the ceiling, searching for patience or divine intervention or something. It was ridiculous and not surprising in the least.

“Hey!” John protested, sending him an indignant frown. “It’s a brilliant con. One Jack and I ran more than a few times back in the day, I might add.”

“Jack?” Ianto cut a disbelieving glance at Jack, who shrugged helplessly.

“I told you, I was a different person back then. I did plenty of things I’m not proud of.”

He didn’t want to know. Honestly, truly, really didn’t want to know. He just wanted to maybe go one place in the universe where John Hart hadn’t screwed someone over.

“My daughter isn’t a con!” Salizar yelled.

“You’re right, sir,” Jack said, pointedly moving away from John and bringing Ianto with him. “We’re just here to get a crystal John took. If I can get that, Ianto and I will be out of your way and you can do whatever you want with him.”

John scowled at Jack. “I thought we had a deal. What about the chip in my head? You can’t just leave me—”

“You mean this crystal?” Salizar pulled something out of pocket and then held it up to the light. At first glance it looked milky, but in its depth were a rainbow of colors almost too complex for the human eye to process.

Jack glanced at him, concern etched into his expression. Hopefully Salizar didn’t realise how valuable or dangerous the crystal was, otherwise things were no doubt about to get complicated.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up... I got a bit stuck on it, so I had to leave it and come back a few times. But here it is, and hopefully worth the wait!

Jack twisted his hands against the plastic ties keeping his wrists attached to the pole behind him, trying to work the bindings loose without dislocating his thumb. He’d do it, if need be, it’d heal in a matter of hours or less, but only if he had to. Breaking his own hand was painful, and despite being indestructible, self-preservation instincts never really went away, and it took a lot of internal will power for a person to purposefully put themselves through that much pain.

For the time being they were alone in John’s stash house—Salizar had left to go fetch his daughter. As far as he knew, only one man had stayed behind to guard them, but was standing outside the door.

“Jack, I’ve got a brilliant idea,” Ianto said from his left side, where he was similarly tied to the same pole, leaving John tied on Jack’s right. There were two poles, set evenly apart between the bed and the sofa. At first glance, one might have assumed they were something to do with the roof structure, but Jack knew better.

“Going to get us out of this, Eye Candy?” John asked, actually sounding bored.

“No, I mean after all this is done with The Doctor. We should take John back to Torchwood with us.”

Jack twisted to look at Ianto over his shoulder, sure he couldn’t have heard right. But Ianto was leaning back against the pole with his eyes closed, expression tense and tired.

“Finally going to let me join your merry band of misfits?” John perked up. “Sounds great, we can all have a celebratory orgy.”

Ianto opened his eyes, but only to glare over his shoulder at John. “We should take him back to Torchwood and lock him in the vaults. Or better yet, cryo-freeze him in the morgue. The universe will be much better off, I’m sure.”

John shifted, trying to look at Ianto. “Now wait just a—”

“Good idea,” he told Ianto right over top of the other man. He gave up on trying to loosen the tie around his wrists and stretched his fingers to catch Ianto’s thumb. Ianto responded to the silent assurance, rubbing his thumb along Jack’s index finger. “Why didn’t we think of that sooner?”

“I don’t know,” Ianto muttered darkly. “But if we had, we wouldn’t be tied up to a ceiling support on the moon in some dingy—”

“It’s not a ceiling support,” John interrupted with a leer in his voice.

That seemed to give Ianto pause. “Then what is it?”

“Matching pair. For recreational activities.” John didn’t even bother to hide the lascivious amusement in his voice.

There was a drawn-out moment of silence in which Jack felt Ianto stiffen where their shoulders were touching. “It’s a stripper pole? I’m tied up with you on a _stripper pole_?”

Jack had to bite his tongue over a laugh, glad Ianto couldn’t see his face. It wasn’t funny, not really, but the absolute disbelief and outrage in Ianto’s voice would have been hilarious in almost any situation.

“You mean to tell me you don’t have one?” John demanded like it was a crime against humanity. “Oh, Eye Candy, you’re missing out. The things Jack can do upside down—”

“Enough,” Jack cut in with a note of finality in his voice. “We need to work out how we’re going to get ourselves out of John’s mess.”

 “And get the kontron crystal from Salizar,” Ianto murmured distractedly, probably already running scenarios in his mind.

“I think I can get us free.” No use for it, though, he was going to have to put his thumb out to do it. He started working his hand against the bindings again, preparing himself for the inevitable pain. “Then John can take us to Salizar. The hard part will be stealing the crystal back.”

“Details we can work out later,” John said impatiently. “How about we just get out of here before Salizar comes back with his daughter?”

“What’s wrong, John? I thought you’d be overjoyed to see your wife,” Ianto returned with a sharp note of sarcasm in his voice.

“Nice girl. Body like a Perlarian harem dancer. Face like a smashed in asteroid.” John gave a mock shudder. “Still, she gave good—”

“John!” Ianto practically yelled over top of him. “Jesus Christ, if I have to hear one more—”

Jack couldn’t bite back a pained yelp as he forced his thumb out of place, making Ianto freeze.

“Jack?” The worry was obvious in his tone as Ianto tried to turn around to see him.

“It’s fine,” he replied, voice hoarse as he gingerly slid his hand out of the loop.

“I heard a crack.”

“That would be my thumb.” He got free of the ties altogether and shifted to his knees, bringing his hand in front of himself to pop the joint into place. Ianto grimaced, staring up at him in concern.

He blew out a breath as the ache dissipated. The clammy sweat from the short but intense pain, however, was going to take a little longer to fade.

Walking over to the nearby kitchenette, he yanked open a draw and grabbed out a knife, before returning to kneel next to Ianto and cut the tie. As soon as he was free, Ianto scrambled up and grabbed his hand to examine it.

“It’s okay, it’ll be healed in no time.”  

“That’s not the point.” Ianto raised his eyes to catch his gaze, hint of annoyance, but also affection and worry and too many other emotions to name in his blue eyes. Ianto ducked his head, bringing Jack’s hand up to lightly kissed the swollen joint. When he looked back up again, Jack leaned in and caught his mouth, gently but intimately, letting the depth of his feeling, of the things he could never put into words in the pressure and lingering slide of their lips. The past nine years, since he’d thought Ianto had died, he’d been simply existing. Putting on a front for Gwen and his new Torchwood team. Playing at being fine when inside he’d been nothing but ashes, occasionally stirred by a barren wind.

He still couldn’t quite believe The Doctor had brought Ianto back to him. Though he hadn’t been letting himself think about, the reality of it finally sunk in. He couldn’t lose Ianto again. Not for a long, long time. There were ways of extending a human life—not to be immortal like he was, but so that Ianto might have perhaps two hundred years instead of a few decades. He’d have to talk to Ianto about it, of course, make sure he was open to the idea, and then convince The Doctor of letting them try. The Doctor owed him, and he wasn’t above calling in the favour, even if it was something The Doctor didn’t approve of.

Jack broke the kiss, trailing his fingers along Ianto’s jaw. “Can we talk, later? It’s important.”

A hint of confusion flitted over Ianto’s features, but he nodded his agreement.

Jack got to his feet and pulled Ianto up with him, before turning to free John.

“Do I get a kiss as well?” The other man puckered his lips and made a smooching pout.

Before Jack could say anything, Ianto smacked John in the face and then pointed a finger at him. “Keep it up and I will shoot you.”

John rubbed his cheek but seemed more impressed than insulted. Jack knew that look a little too well, even if he wished he didn’t.

“I can keep it up, alright, Eye Candy.”

Ianto actually growled, but before he could do so much as take even half a step forward, Jack pulled him back and spun him around to face him.

“He’s winding you up on purpose. Honestly, all you’re doing at this point is turning him on.”

Ianto threw a disgusted glare at John, who leered and waggled his eyebrows at him in return.

“John,” Jack ordered, but keeping his attention on Ianto. “Take point. We’re going to get that crystal back.”

“Yes, sir,” John replied with a sarcastic salute. He went over to where they’d been told to toss their weapons earlier before being tied up, John and Jack taking a moment to return the guns to their belts. Once they were done, John walked over to the door, yanked it open and shot the single man who’d been left guarding them.

“Did you have to kill him?” Ianto demanded incredulously. Jack loved him for the fact he could still be surprised by anything John did.

“He was a total tosspot. Owed me fifty quid. Never would have paid.” John gave a careless shrug as he stepped over the body and headed for the stairs.

Jack reached out and took Ianto’s hand, not looking too closely as the also had to step over the body to get out the door. Once they were out on the street again, John paused to wait for them.

“So, where are we going?” Jack asked him.

John nodded a chin along one of the busy thoroughfares. “Salizar owns a shipping business down by the spaceport. Legal on the outside, black market on the inside. His daughter works with him, so if he’s gone to get her, I’m guessing that where they’ll be at this time of day.”

“Lead the way.” Jack indicated with his free hand, since his other was holding tight, fingers tangled with Ianto’s, just the way he like it.

John didn’t make a move, however. He crossed his arms, staring at Jack mulishly. “And just how are you planning to get the crystal back? We walk into Salizar’s warehouse, we’ll be up against thirty or more of his armed goons.”

“I don’t know yet,” he returned, a hint of impatience creeping into his voice. “Maybe we could try asking nicely for a change. Anyway, since when were you worried about steep odds?”

John drew himself up. “I’m not worried about the odds. I am worried about being double crossed and spending the rest of my life with a damn chip in my head. We had a deal, and you already tried to screw me out of it once.”

Jack leaned forward with a wolfish grin. “I didn’t do anything you haven’t already tried with me before. Or are you forgetting it’s a game _you_ started?”

“Come on, Jack, I wasn’t really trying to kill you any of those times. I knew you’d escape. It wasn’t serious, not until you locked me in that sodding cupboard when the Titanic was sinking. And when I pushed you off the roof, well... you know I've always had a problem with impulse control.”

Ianto made a noise of disbelief, but Jack was too busy staring down John. “You’re still here, aren’t you? Even after everything you did to my team back in Cardiff.”

John rolled his eyes. “You and your little team. Half of them are gone, Jack. When are you going to get over it?”

Jack felt Ianto’s hand tighten on his, which was pretty much the only thing that stopped him from exploding with anger in that moment.

“If you really want our help with the chip, then you don’t mention them again, understood?”

John opened his mouth, probably to say something petty or sarcastic, except The Doctor had arrived, passing a measured glance between them.

“Problem, gentlemen?” she asked as she stopped beside them, seeming to direct most of her disapproval at John, as if she’d guessed he was to blame.

“Minor setback,” Jack replied in an easy voice, putting some distance between him and John. “We know where the crystal is. John was just about to go and get it for us.”

The Doctor sent John a smile that was almost cutting. “How altruistic of him. We should get on with it then, because I think I’ve figured out where we can find the Timeless and what they’re up to.”

“Trouble?” Jack asked, a grim sense of foreboding trickling through him.

“Oh yes,” The Doctor replied. “And you, Jack Harkness, are right in the middle of it.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, another lengthy wait between updates. Unfortunately I might only be able to continue getting one chapter up a week for the time being with all the other stuff I've got going on. But I will persist! I definitely plan to see out this story and the series ;)   
> Happy reading!

It had been too easy, finding the information. The Doctor knew a trap when she saw one, and it was clear the Timeless were trying to lure them in. To what end, she had no idea. She only knew that their plan somehow hinged on Jack. Had they found a way to use him to replicate his immortality, when it should have been impossible?

Except apparently it hadn’t been completely impossible, because Jack had inadvertently made an American CIA agent immortal when trying to fix the Miracle Day situation. It probably wasn’t a huge stretch to imagine the Timeless had figured out something along the same lines.

She could only hope that by getting the kontron crystal, it would at least delay whatever plans the Timeless had. Not stop them, because they could eventually find themselves another one. But at least it might give her and her current companions enough time to figure out exactly what the Timeless planned to do with the both the crystal and Jack to make their race immortal.

First, of course, they had to actually retrieve the crystal from the unsuspecting fellow who’d taken it from John. She assumed the man didn’t have any idea what he’d gotten his hands on, otherwise he surely would have tried to sell it instead of holding onto it to use as leverage if John ever returned.

She trailed a few steps behind the others, John in the lead, forging the way through the busy thoroughfare to Salizar’s warehouse. Jack and Ianto were walking a step or two behind him, talking quietly between themselves. When she had announced that Jack was in the middle of this mess—something they had already guessed, he’d made a typical brash joke and brushed it off. Except Ianto had looked worried and clearly wasn’t taking Jack’s easy acceptance of this fact at face value. She was glad Jack had someone so clearly devoted to him. He definitely deserved it.

Two of her previous regenerations had been inexcusably callous with Jack. The one whom Jack had first met had fled when Rose had accidentally brought him back beyond life into something else altogether. He’d known that Jack was half in love with him, known that Jack would be devastated if he ever found out the truth—that he’d been abandoned on purpose. But it wasn’t the first time a companion had simply been left or lost to the dark ravages of time and space and doubtless would be the last. But he hadn’t been able to deal with how _wrong_ Jack felt and his own part he'd played in Jack’s ultimate fate.

The next regeneration had picked up right where the other had left off—running and avoiding Jack at all cost. Of course, he’d also been arrogant enough to refuel on the Cardiff rift when he knew Jack was there waiting for him. He’d assumed the thirty seconds it would take to refuel on the recently active rift wouldn’t give Jack anywhere near enough time to catch him. Of course, he hadn’t counted on Jack having his severed hand or literally being right beneath the water tower where he always stopped.

When Jack had demanded to know what had happened to him, he hadn’t tried to soften the truth in the least, too busy dealing with his own instincts telling him Jack went against everything that made him a Time Lord. Jack had taken the news well, that he was an impossible thing and there was no fixing him. Of course, there’d been a lot of other things going on, and when they’d realised they were dealing with The Master, he’d been grateful for Jack’s company, unwavering loyalty and unfailing belief in him, even if he didn’t deserve it.

By the time an entire year had passed, Jack’s impossibility barely registered with him any longer. Plus, for everything The Doctor had endured, Jack had suffered worse; countless hours or torture when the Master got bored, days of endless death when the Master tried to work out what made Jack tick. And then there’d been the fate of Jack’s beloved team. She couldn’t suppress a shudder at the memory of the Master bringing them up to the Valiant, only to kill them one by one while Jack watched on helpless. The Master had somehow known and saved Ianto until last. Had inflicted the most pain on the young man. Jack’s howls of fury and desolation had echoed through the Valiant for days after.

After all that had finally been over, she’d extended an open invitation for Jack to return whenever he wanted. It was the least she could do and would never begin to make up for what Jack had suffered on her behalf. For what he’d done to stop the Master. And truthfully, there was no one else like Jack Harkness in the universe. She liked spending time with him. The two of them were a constant in the universe, and she knew they were going to cross each other’s paths many, many times for possibly thousands of years to come.

John slowed as they reached the end of the block, motioning to a building across the way.  “That’s where Salizar does all his business. Likes to think he’s the big man in town, but he’s not much more than a glorified fence.”

“How are we going to do this?” Ianto asked, looking to Jack.

“We can’t exactly sneak in,” Jack replied with a hint of annoyance to his voice as he crossed his arms. “Salizar and some of his men have seen us, and obviously they all know who John is.”

“Well then, it’s lucky he hasn’t seen me!” she interrupted brightly before Jack could bother coming up with any other plans.

“Doctor, no offense, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to go in alone,” Jack said with a cautioning look in her direction.

“It’s times like this I wish Athena wasn’t just in my head,” Ianto muttered, glancing to the left of himself.

It would have been handy to have the backup, but some warehouse run by a two-bit thug certainly wasn’t the most dangerous place she'd ever walked into.

“If I can cross the Depraved Plains of Orterion by myself, then I think I can handle a few ruffians to get back a single crystal.”

She stepped away from the group before they could argue, even though all three of them started trying to talk over top of each other.

“Back in a minute!” She ignored them and hurried to pull open the warehouse door.

She was immediately confronted by the sounds of an argument between an older man—presumably Salizar—and a younger woman who was undoubtably his daughter. There were maybe ten other people standing around looking bored, armed, but taking no notice of the complete stranger who’d walked in off the street.

“Hullooo!” she called with a wave.

She quickly crossed the space between them as Salizar stared at her in confusion while his people slowly came to attention, clearly unsure whether she presented a threat and if they should get their weapons out.

“Can I help you?” the young woman asked with an almost professional air.

“Yes, quite.” She came to a stop in front of the pair. “I wish to buy something.”

When she didn’t continue, the young woman exchanged a confused look with her father.

“Something?” she repeated, sounding unsure.

“I heard you were the people to see for items one might not necessarily find at just any shop.” She leaned in with a wink.

The young woman stiffened a little, becoming wary, as if she thought it might be a trick or trap. Seemed she might be smarter than her father at least.

“That depends on what you’re after. We do trade in specialty items and antiques.”

“Oh yes, what I’m after is very special,” she replied with a convincing nod. “It’s a type of crystal. No real monetary value, more of a show piece than anything. Pretty to look at, but virtually worthless.”

Salizar shifted, giving himself away, even if he didn’t realise it.

“That doesn’t sound like something we’d normally trade in,” the young woman said with an apologetic tone.

“Pity,” The Doctor drew out the word, darting a quick, calculating look at Salizar. “You see, the crystal is worthless, but I’d be willing to pay handsomely for it. Sentimental reasons, you understand.”

The young woman shrugged. “We could look into it, but I’m afraid—”

“Wait.” Salizar placed a hand on his daughter’s arm. “I might have something we can sell.”

He reached into his jacket pocket and produced the crystal, setting it on a nearby desk. “Is this close to what you had in mind?”

She tapped a finger against her chin, pretending to think about it. “It’s not exactly what I wanted, but if it’s all you have…”

“It’s the only one,” the young woman said. “We can negotiate a reasonable price for you.”

“Fantastic,” she said with a winning smile.

Salizar indicated she should take a seat in one of the chairs, while he and his daughter sat across from her. They started tossing figures back and forth across the table even though she didn’t have any of the local currency and had no intention of paying the man for the crystal he himself had stolen.

However, just as they were closing on an agreed price and she’d started debating how to take the crystal and get out of here, one of Salizar’s men came hurrying up to the table.

“Excuse me, sir, sorry for the interruption, but John Hart has been spotted across the street.”

The Doctor swallowed an annoyed sigh and resisted taking a page out of Ianto’s book to roll her eyes. Was it too much to hope the others—especially John Hart—could have stayed out of sight until she’d managed to secure the crystal? All they’d managed to do was cock things up for her. And she’d been so close to resolving this without drama. Given, she’d been a bit blurry on the last few details, but in another few seconds, she would have figured it out. She was brilliant, after all.

“Well, don’t just stand there!” Salizar yelled, jumping to his feet. “Go and get him!”

The man scrambled to obey, a few others falling into step behind him as they ran from the building. Well, that probably wasn’t going to end well for John. She just hoped Jack and Ianto managed to stay out of harm’s way.

Still, she couldn’t help leaning back in the chair and regarding the pair with a small smile.

“Trouble?”

“Nothing to be concerned about,” the young woman said pointedly, glaring at her father. “Would you like to conclude negotiations?”

“Oh yes.” She widened her grin and sat forward, reaching out to take the crystal in hand. _Bingo_. “Mind if I take a closer look at the product before we settle on a final price?”


	8. Chapter 8

Ianto would have thought that after the number of times he’d had guns pointed at him over his years working at Torchwood—both One and Three—he might have gotten a little bit used to it. Maybe he had, because while he was still suitably terrified of getting shot, more and more it just pissed him off.

Now didn’t prove to be the exception as he was hustled into the warehouse at gun point next to Jack, who was alongside John Hart… the man on whom he was solely placing all responsibility for their current situation.

“So you escaped,” Salizar announced as they were lined up in front of him.

The Doctor sat nearby at a desk, looking on with detached interest as if they didn’t know each other from a bar of soap. In her hand, she had the kontron crystal, carelessly rolling it between her palms. She had the crystal, and she must have a plan, even though the three of them had probably just made it more complicated by getting caught. Of course, that had been John Hart’s fault as well. He’d just had to go get a closer look, trying to sneak around the side of the building to spy in a window. Jack had followed after him, attempting to unsuccessfully stop John from yet another impulsive, idiotic act, and Ianto had simply trailed after them for lack of anything better to do, Athena rightfully bitching about John Hart the entire way. She, out of all of them, was probably the most frustrated because in her current state she couldn’t do anything to help him, and Jack by extension. She was most definitely not interested in helping John Hart in anyway whatsoever. Except to possibly maim him in a variety of colourful and interesting ways, which under any other circumstances, he would have found highly entertaining.   

Jack and John had gotten into an argument, which had drawn the attention of Salizar’s men and before they’d known it, they’d been surrounded by people pointing guns at them and told to go inside.

“But you were still dumb enough to come here,” Salizar continued, shaking his head.

“I wouldn’t say _dumb_ ,” Jack replied. “It was more like a calculated error.”

“For what? The crystal? Seems it’s a popular item today. Sorry, but this lovely lady here has just purchased it.” Salizar motioned to the Doctor, who pushed to her feet.

“Clearly you have business to take care of, so I’ll just get out of your way.” The Doctor started moving away from the desk.

Ianto fought to keep his expression neutral. What in the hell kind of plan was this, the Doctor walking out and leaving them here?

“I’m sure she knows what she’s doing,” Athena told him, though she didn’t sound all that confident.

“Wait,” Salizar stepped into her path. “We haven’t finalised payment details.”

“Of course, what was I thinking?” The doctor suddenly tossed the crystal at Jack, who shot a hand out and caught it.

The Doctor whipped out her sonic screwdriver and activated it. At first, nothing happened, but then all of the guns the men around them were holding popped and fizzled, causing most of the thugs to drop them.

“Um, Doctor?” Jack was staring at the crystal in his hand that had started glowing faintly. “Is it supposed to do that?”

“Probably not!” The Doctor replied, changing the setting on her sonic screwdriver. Above them, the lights started blowing in a shower of sparks. Some of Salizar’s men started to scatter, unsure of what was happening.

Ianto knew what was happening, but his heart was still pounding hard against his chest. He ducked his head as the sparks rained down and shifted closer to Jack. Although, he didn’t know if that was a good idea, since the crystal he was holding had started glowing even brighter.

“Don’t just stand there!” The Doctor yelled a them. “Run!”

They didn’t need to be told twice. Jack grabbed his arm with his free hand and spun around, but he’d barely taken a step before Salizar jumped toward them, knocking hard into Jack. He dropped the crystal and it bounced a few steps away. While Jack threw off Salizar and then swung a punch at him, Ianto scrambled after the crystal, scooping it up just before one of Salizar’s men got to it.

He wrapped his hand around it, not even thinking that the bright glow might also mean it had become hot. Not uncomfortably hot, more like holding a very warm mug of coffee. Except just as he’d reassured himself that he wasn’t going to end up with a burned palm, the intense warmth shifted _into_ his hand. He dropped the crystal in shock, and as it hit the floor at his feet, he saw it was no longer glowing. The glow was inside him. Tracking through his wrist and up his forearm, leaving a trail of heat.

“Ianto?” Jack came over and grabbed his biceps, eyes widening as he saw the glowing heat moving beneath his skin.

“Jack! What’s happening?” His voice came out on a note of panic, the heat beginning to radiate through his entire body.

“I don’t know— Doctor!” Jack sounded just as frightened, if not more so.

The Doctor was in front of them before Jack had barely finished shouting the words.

“What’s happening to him?” Jack demanded hoarsely.

By now, the glowing heat had reached his shoulder. He clamped a hand onto Jack’s arm, as if that would anchor him or save him from whatever was about to happen.

“Not here,” The Doctor grabbed his other arm and started dragging him toward the doors of the warehouse where John Hart was holing them open, taking the occasional shots at Salizar’s men to keep them back as the three of them rushed out to the street. Ianto felt like he couldn’t breathe, like the heat was starting to suffocate him now that it’d reached his chest.

Just as they got to the end of the block, Ianto stumbled, even though Jack and The Doctor were holding him up. The glowing heat had reached his heart, he could feel it inundate the organ, making his entire chest throb. Acute pain shot out through every limb, radiating from the middle of his chest. Distantly he wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like.

He collapsed, but Jack caught him before he hit the ground. Jack lowered him, but kept him propped up against his chest.

“Ianto? _Ianto_!” Jack’s voice sounded like it was coming from a long way away and he couldn’t answer as his whole body seized, all of his muscles contracting at once on one sustained wave of pain and heat.

Now he really couldn’t breathe. All the air got sucked from his body. There was nothing but the heat and all he could do was fist his hands into Jack’s coat and silently scream in his head at the injustice of dying in Jack’s arms yet again.

Except then his lungs spasmed and he managed to gasp in a breath. Apparently, Jack had been having almost the same problem, because he exhaled explosively and hauled Ianto against him, rocking him slightly.

“That’s it, breathe, Ianto, just breathe for me.”

Ianto clung weakly to him as the heat ebbed away. He was sweating all over, the dampness rapidly cooling and leaving him shivering.

“What the hell was that?” Jack demanded in a rough voice to The Doctor, who was crouching next to them. John was standing nearby, arms crossed over his red jacket, features tense as if he was actually worried.

Her expression was troubled as she stared at him. “Let’s just get back to the TARDIS.”

Jack helped him up, which was a good thing because his legs felt weak underneath him.

“Wait,” he said before they could take more than a single step. “Did someone pick up the crystal?”

 The Doctor sent him a fond smile while Jack gave a disbelieving laugh that was laced with affection.

“That’s what you’re worried about right now?” Jack shook his head and tightened his hold as he urged Ianto into a slow walk.

“Well it’d be nice to know I got flash roasted from the inside out for a reason,” he grumbled. The sensation had faded and he was pretty much feeling fine now. Whatever it’d been, it had dissipated and apart from feeling a little shaky all over—a bit like he did after Jack thoroughly shagged him truth be told—there didn’t seem to be any discernible effects.

“Not to fear, Mr Jones, I have the crystal.” The Doctor patted the outside of her coat over the inner pocket where she’d presumably stashed their bounty. “Let’s get back to the TARDIS and check you over.”

Getting back to the TARDIS sounded like an excellent idea… Going home to Cardiff sounded even better, but it was a pointless hope. He still needed to get the biochip in his head removed, find a different option for Athena that wasn’t sharing his mind and stop an ancient race of beings who were bent on universal domination via Jack and his immortality.

Once, he would have made a sarcastic comment about this just being another day at Torchwood. Except this was so, so much more extreme. Who would have ever thought the global-scale disasters they’d averted a number of times at Torchwood would ever seem small?

They made it back to the TARDIS without any further incidents, and when they stepped within the shields, Athena appeared, hurrying ahead to hold to door open for them.

“Never going to get used to that,” John muttered, casting a curious look over her as he went inside.

Even though he was feeling much better, Ianto let Jack lead him over and sat him down on one of the seats across from the central console. The Doctor went straight to the controls, while Ianto ended up sandwiched between Jack and Athena, asking over top of one another if he was alright and whether he needed anything. He took one of their hands in each of his, passing a stern look between them.

“I’m fine.”

Jack sent him a sceptical look. “You’ll forgive me if I wait until The Doctor confirms that.”

“He’s fine!” The Doctor announced, attention on the screen at the console and relief obvious in her voice. “Well fine enough with just a small amount of the Time Vortex running through him.”

“What?” Jack jumped up from the seat and rushed over, shouldering The Doctor out of his way as he stared down at the screen to see the results of the scan himself. “How can he—”

Jack glanced up to stare at him, still looking worried.

“My best guess?” The Doctor said, gaining Jack’s attention. “When you picked up the kontron crystal, Jack, it absorbed some of the Time Vortex energy that runs through you. Then you dropped it and—”

“Ianto picked it up and the energy went into him.” Jack focused on The Doctor and there was no mistaking the worry in his eyes. “But what does that mean? What’s it going to do—”

Ianto found himself holding his breath as he waited for The Doctor to answer.

But she shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Nothing, I should imagine. It’s a negligible amount and it should dissipate over the next few hours.  

Jack blew out an uneven breath, but Ianto couldn’t tell if he looked worried or relieved. And since he didn’t know as much about the Time Vortex as Jack and The Doctor, he didn’t know what the implications might have been for him had he absorbed more than a tiny amount. Obviously not anything good, the way Jack was panicking.

Ianto held out an arm and Jack came over. But instead of taking the offered hand, Jack slid his arms around Ianto, holding him close and dropping a kiss on top o his head.

“I told you I was fine,” he muttered into Jack’s chest.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jack replied, voice laced with relief and amusement.

John Hart made a rude noise, and until that moment, Ianto had almost forgotten he was there.

“This is all so sweet its making my teeth ache. Now let’s get our collective arses off this damned moon. In case you’re forgetting, me and Eye Candy need these chips removed from our heads.”

Jack shifted back, arching an eyebrow. “I haven’t said this for centuries and never thought I’d say it again, but I agree with John. Let’s get out of here.”

“Small wonders never cease.” John sent Jack a smile that was almost predatory. “While you’re in such an agreeable mood—”

“No.” Ianto, Jack and Athena all said at the same time.

John pouted. “You don’t even know what I was going to suggest.”

“Whatever it was, I can guarantee we’ll all be better off not hearing it,” Jack replied sternly.

John shrugged like he couldn’t have cared less, then started patting his pockets. “Your loss. I’ve got plenty of other ways to take the edge off. Seem to have lost my stash though in all the excitement. Tell me you’ve got something alcoholic on this box somewhere.”

Before any of them could answer, John had sauntered off down the corridor.

Jack stared after him, concern creasing his brow. “You sure it’s a good idea to let him wander around on his own?”

The Doctor grinned and there was something almost maniacal in the expression. “The TARDIS will take care of him.”

 Jack laughed, and Ianto glanced at Athena, who sent him a quick smile. Apparently everyone got that joke except him. But he was too worn-out to care. It seemed absorbing the Time Vortex was tiring work.

“Well, if there’s not going to be anymore disasters in the immediate future, I’m going to take a kip,” Ianto pushed wearily to his feet as Jack came over.

“Can I tuck you in?” Jack asked with no small amount of suggestiveness in his tone, eyes twinkling.

Oh yes, he was very familiar with the Jack Harkness definition of getting tucked in.

“Jack.” He made sure there was a firm hint of warning in his tone, but Jack simply sent him an innocent smile.

Jack shifted forward and settled his hands on his hips. “I just want to look after you, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh. I seem to recall other times you wanted to look after me and I somehow ended up even more exhausted.”

“But you always got the best night’s sleep after,” Jack returned with a wink, completely unrepentant.

“Remember the rule, Jack,” The Doctor called out from where she was doing something at the TARDIS console.

Jack sent The Doctor a thwarted frown. “I don’t like these new rules—”

Whatever else Jack was going to say was interrupted as John Hart returned, looking sightly confused and dazed. Great. Had he already managed to get drunk or high in the few minutes he’d been gone?

“Blotto already, are you?” Ianto asked with an eyeroll as John staggered a little.

“No, no,” John shook his head, sounding about as steady as he looked. “No, couldn’t find anything to take the edge off. But I did find this.”

John straightened all of a sudden and pulled out a gun, aiming it straight at Ianto’s chest.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor trigger warning -- sorry kids, this chapter gets a bit violent. You *might* also want to have some tissues on hand. Extreme angst heading this way.

“John, what the hell are you doing?” Jack started forward, but John cocked the weapon he had aimed at Ianto, making Jack freeze.

John pressed his free hand against his head, as if he was in pain, but his hold on the weapon never wavered. The guy always had been a steady shot, even under the most taxing circumstances.

“It’s the bloody chip,” John replied, scrunching his expression before focusing on Ianto again. “They found me, Jack. The booze wore off and the drugs wore off just enough for them to take control. And they want me to—”

John swallowed, visibly upset, struggling to keep his expression under control.

“Just put down the gun, John, and we’ll help you. The Doctor has sedatives—”

“I do!” The Doctor cut in, her voice almost desperate. “I’ve got all kinds of drugs that’ll make you high for days. Just put the gun down.”

“I can’t!” John surged forward, closing the distance between him and Ianto who was standing stiffly, eyeing John warily, but with a hint of anger in his features.

“Don’t you get it?” John all but yelled. “I can’t. They found me and they know I’ve got you and the crystal and they don’t need him anymore.”

John’s words were almost running together and it took Jack a second to work out what he was talking about.

“Ianto? You mean _Ianto_?” Cold fear landed in his stomach like a block of ice. “John—”

“They want me to kill him, Jack. It’s all I can do not to squeeze the trigger.” John’s voice came out ragged, his eyes growing damp, though whether it was from physical pain in his head or from emotion, Jack couldn’t tell.

“Fight it, John! Because you know I’m not going to stand here and watch you kill Ianto.”

John’s expression cleared as if he was actually thinking about that, and for half a second, Jack thought he was going to fight the chip and put the gun down. Except John swung the weapon around to aim at him instead.

“You’re right. I should kill you first.”

“John, no!” The Doctor yelled even as John finally squeezed the trigger. The boom of the high-calibre weapon was like a small explosion in the enclosed space of the TARDIS control room. Jack barely had time to register the noise before the shot slammed into his chest. He stumbled back a step, and as he collapsed to his knees, Ianto was there catching him before he could fall.

Jack grabbed Ianto’s arm in a bruising grip and stared up at him desperately.

“Don’t worry about me. _Run_.”

“I’m not leaving you like this,” Ianto replied stubbornly, even though there was a hint of fear in his eyes that made Jack’s heart spasm. Or maybe that was the gaping wound in the middle of his chest from John’s gun.

“Not so fast.” John was now aiming at The Doctor who’d started over toward them. “You’re going to fly the TARDIS to the Keterite Nebula.”

“Why?” The Doctor demanded, an expression of absolute fury on her features that Jack had rarely seen. This was why she was known as the oncoming storm, the bringer of darkness. The Timeless had no idea what they’d just unleashed.

“That’s where they’re waiting for you,” John explained almost reasonably.

“And what makes you think I’m going to do that?” The Doctor returned calmly.

“Because I’m no longer in control. All I can think about is—” John swung around with the gun and lined up Athena. Before anyone could so much as take another breath, John squeezed off another shot, hitting Athena in the stomach. She went down straight away, but it was Ianto who cried out and doubled over in pain on top of Jack.

Though he was starting to have trouble breathing and could feel a weakness he recognised too well settling over him from massive blood loss, he tried to wrap an arm around Ianto, tried to comfort him as he collapsed next to him, writhing in pain.

“If I set the coordinates, will you spare Ianto’s life?” The Doctor asked rigidly, her fury gone quiet, but no less intense.

“It’s not up to me,” John replied. He walked over with slow steps until he stood above Jack and Ianto, aiming the gun downward. “I can kill him quick, save him the pain.”

“No,” Jack reached out to grab John’s ankle, unable to get enough air so that each breath sounded like a sob. “John, no. _Please_ , don’t kill him.”

“Doctor?” John asked, as though it was her choice.

“I’ll put the coordinates in as soon as you agree not to kill Ianto,” The Doctor replied in a firm voice that was unnaturally calm.

“Slow, painful death it is,” John muttered regretfully, before letting off another shot.

“No!” Jack yelled hoarsely, but he was too weak to throw himself into the line of fire. The shot hit Ianto in the right side of his chest.

Jack dragged himself up, even though it made his head spin and his own blood spill down his chest faster, but he clamped his hands over the wound in Ianto’s chest, trying to stop the bleeding.

Ianto’s breaths were coming in fast gasps as he stared up at Jack in panic.

“You’ll be fine,” Jack told him, except the absolute fear in his voice betrayed the words, as did the tears spilling down his cheeks. “We’ll get you down to the medical room and you’ll be fine.”

John lowered down into a crouch a few steps away, the gun falling limply from his hands as he dropped his head, looking defeated and devastated.

“He won’t be fine,” John said, voice ragged as though he was trying not to cry. “That shot went through his lung. He’s drowning in his own blood. I’m sorry. Oh god, I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop—”

“Shut up, John!” The yell stole the last of Jack’s energy and he slumped down next to Ianto, unable to hold himself up any longer, darkness eating away at the edge of his vision. He was seconds away from death, but he fought to stay awake. Because by the time he revived, Ianto would be gone. And he couldn’t do it again. Couldn’t come back to an existence without him.

“Ianto.” He rolled his head to the side, catching those blue eyes he’d gazed into so many times. They were filled with fear and panic and sorrow, and breaking Jack’s heart into a million pieces. He found Ianto’s hand, twining their fingers together, slippery with blood. “I love you. You know that, don’t you? You know I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. So, promise me, please. Don’t die while I’m gone. Just hold on. The Doctor and I will save you.”

Ianto nodded jerkily, tears overflowing to slide down his face.

“I love you, Jack. I’ll hold on. For as long as I can.” Ianto’s words were halting, his breathing becoming shallower. Icy fear enveloped Jack’s body, because he knew, no matter what either of them said, Ianto maybe had minutes at best. Jack determinedly sucked in another breath, willing himself to heal instead of die, but like a chord strung tight to the point of snapping, conscious suddenly left him, plunging him into the endless dark depths of death

*******

Jack revived much the same way, with a sudden snap into consciousness and a long gasping breath. He scrambled to get upright, his hand still twined with Ianto’s, whose fingers were completely limp.

“Ianto?” He stared down, reaching with a shaking hand to cup his face. His eyes were closed, expression lax, no breath passing across his lips.

“ _No_.” The word came out low and keening, pain and something far deeper than simple grief in the sound. He’d lost him again. After all that, Ianto had died and left him alone and broken. He collapsed down over Ianto’s chest, sobs spasming his chest one after the other, coming so close together he barely had time to breathe between them.

A hand touched his shoulder lightly and after a second, he sat up to look back at The Doctor, who had silent tears running down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Jack. I’m sorry I couldn’t save him for you.” She slid her hand across his back and he leaned into her, accepting the comfort she was offering.

“What am I supposed to do now?” he whispered raggedly.

Ianto had been like his true north, and without him the last nine years, he’d been like a compass spinning out of control. He’d thought, just for a wonderfully brief moment, that he’d gotten his equilibrium back. Ianto had grounded him in a way no one else ever had in his entire life. The Doctor had saved Ianto from death once, he didn’t have any illusions she’d be able to do it again, especially since he’d died right here on the TARDIS. There was no way to go back and change things.

Movement in his peripheral caught his attention and he straightened to look at John who had tears dripping down his face.

“They made me do it. You get that, right? I had no choice. I’m sorry Jack.” John’s voice cracked and caught over the words, all the while he slowly reached out and wrapped his hand around the gun he’d dropped earlier.

He wanted to hate John, and logically he knew it wasn’t the man’s fault, but even just looking at him was making a white-hot burning pain rip through his chest.

John gave a sad laugh. He picked up the gun and examined it, making Jack’s pulse pick up speed. The only one left to kill was The Doctor. He’d already lost so much. He’d kill John with his bare hands before the man could even think about shooting The Doctor.

“You already didn’t want anything to do with me before this. I was still holding out hope, though, that maybe one day— Well, it’s all done for now. You’ll never forgive me for this.” John closed his eyes for a moment, expression pained. “And maybe I don’t deserve it anyway.”

John brought the gun up, but instead of aiming at The Doctor like he’d assumed, John pointed the gun at his own head.

“John, no!” Jack launched to his feet and tackled the other man, wrapping his hand around the gun and forcing it away.

They went down, Jack landing on top of John. The other ex-Time Agent barely struggled as Jack wrenched the gun out of his fingers and tossed it away.

“It’s the only way to get rid of the chip. I can’t let them control me anymore, please Jack.” John reached for the gun, but Jack grabbed him by the jacket and hauled him closer.

“No! There’s been enough death. No one else is dying today.”

John collapsed against his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry Jack. Just kill me, please, kill me.”

Jack wrapped his arms around John, feeling like he was holding them both together. He looked over at The Doctor who was sitting next to Ianto, her hand on his shoulder as though she was comforting him. Except Ianto couldn’t be comforted anymore. He was gone. Forever.

Jack felt fresh tears pouring down his cheeks, but almost stronger than his anguish was the fury building within him.

“Doctor, take us to the Keterite Nebula.”

She looked up at him, confusion flashing across her face. “But that’s where the Timeless are waiting for us.”

“Exactly,” Jack replied in a low, deadly voice. “I think its time we paid them a visit.”


	10. Chapter 10

The Doctor climbed slowly to her feet, anger burning in her chest. Things weren’t meant to turn out this way. She’d risked a lot to save Ianto; changed timelines, indirectly interfered with a fixed point in time, gone against her own better judgement when she knew he probably should have stayed dead in 2009.

She hadn’t been around when Jack had lost Ianto the first time, but even so, when she’d caught up to him years later, she’d seen the toll it had taken. He hadn’t looked any older per se, but he had looked more worn. She could only imagine this was going to have long lasting consequences for Jack. To have hope returned, only for it to be violently ripped away again? It was worse than never having it in the first place.

She went over to the control console and looked up the coordinates for the Keterite Nebula. Possibly walking—or flying—straight into a trap when the pair of them were emotionally compromised wasn’t the best idea. But she’d always done her best—and worst—work when her feelings were pushed out of control.

Jack murmured something to John and let him go, before climbing to his feet and walking the short distance to where Ianto lay. He knelt down and gathered Ianto in his arms, fresh tears tumbling down his cheeks, a look of absolute broken grief settling into his features.

The Doctor looked away, concentrating on the screen in front of her. Not because it was too painful to witness, but because she felt like she was intruding on a private moment.

“We’ll be in the Keterite Nebula in a few minutes,” she said, glancing at John, who was still sitting on the floor against the railing where Jack had left him, looking shell-shocked.

Probably they needed to make a plan—something more substantial than simply barging in there to demand answers. Unfortunately, without knowing what they were going to find—a planet or a ship or a station or maybe none of the above—or what the Timeless were planning, any strategy they came up with would hardly be foolproof.

She couldn’t understand what the Timeless had been hoping to gain by killing Ianto. If anything, they’d made the situation more precarious for themselves. The Doctor knew full well what Jack was capable of when pushed to his limits and feeling like he had nothing left to lose. If they’d been hoping to break him before taking him captive, they’d completely miscalculated. Jack didn’t break; he only ever got stronger from the tragedies he’d lived through.

A sudden gasp made The Doctor jump and she spun around to where Athena suddenly surged up from the floor, glancing around as if trying to get her bearings.

“Athena!”

She hurried over to the girl and helped her to her feet, before he gaze snapped over to Ianto, hope blooming in her chest. If Athena was alive then—

“How did you come back?” Jack asked, tightening his hold on Ianto, pulling him closer into his chest as he looked down at him. “Does this mean Ianto—”

“I don’t know.” Athena shook her head, grimacing as if she was uncomfortable or in pain. “I think I tried to jump into the TARDIS’s systems when John shot me. I wanted to spare Ianto the pain, but then when he died—”

“You survived because the TARDIS let you fully integrate with her,” The Doctor finished with a sigh. “I’m sorry, Jack.”

He nodded, but didn’t answer, bowing his head over Ianto, hiding his face against Ianto’s hair, shoulders silently shaking.

Tears started dripping down Athena’s face as she stared at them. “What’s going to happen to me now? The TARDIS is trying to take care of me, but I can feel her discomfort. Two sentient beings in the one ship? We can’t stay like this, we’ll end up destroying each other.”

The Doctor hurried over to the console, running scans and checking readings. Athena was right; the current situation was not tenable long term. But they had some time yet.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” she assured the girl, even though she had no idea what that something might be.

The TARDIS powered down with a familiar whooshing and she checked their position.

“We’ve arrived in the Keterite Nebula.” She scanned the immediate vicinity around the ship and found a small station situated not too far off. Cloaked, but the TARDIS was still picking up energy signatures from it—along with an alarmingly high reading of chronon energy. Looked like they’d found the Timeless.

“What are we going to do? They’d have to know we’re here,” Athena said, sounding worried.

The shields on one side of the station dropped and a cross-hatch of beams shot out, encompassing the TARDIS in an electro-magnetic net.

“I’d say that’s certainly true.” She grabbed onto the console as the TARDIS lurched then started being drawn toward the station.

“Shouldn’t we try to escape?” Athena asked, eyes wide as she stared at her.

“No!” she replied with a large helping of bravado. “Do you know the best way to make a trap completely ineffective?”

Athena silently shook her head.

“Knowing it’s a trap and walking into it anyway.”

“Like that makes sense,” John said, slowly getting to his feet. “The Timeless still have all the power here.”

“They only think they have,” she replied, locking down some of the TARDIS’s controls and systems just in case the Timeless managed to gain entry. “Knowledge is power, Captain Hart. And knowing you’re walking into a trap gives you the power.”

John scoffed, but the sound was hollow and didn’t have its usual note of cheek.

For the next few minutes, no one said anything else, until a hollow, distant clunk signalled the TARDIS had been set down inside the station.

“Do we wait, or do we go out and meet them?” Athena asked.

She passed a look between them. “Best foot forward. The Timeless wanted us here, so let’s go see what they were so insistent on needing us for.”

She turned and took a few steps closer to where Jack was still sitting with Ianto, staring off into space now.

“Jack?”

He blinked and then focused on her.

“Are you coming?” she asked gently.

He stared at her for a long moment, like he hadn’t comprehended the words. But then he shook his head.

“I’m not ready to let go yet.” Once again, he clutched Ianto tightly to him.

The Doctor crouched down and reached out to set a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe it would be best if you stayed here for the time being. It’s you they want, after all.”

Jack sent her a weak smile. “Give ‘em hell for me, Doctor.”

She nodded and then got to her feet, motioning to John and Athena. It wasn’t ideal. Her backup consisted of a sentient ship who would cease to be corporeal the second she stepped more than a few feet from the doors of the TARDIS and a ex-Time Agent with questionable morals who currently had a biochip dictating his movements at unpredictable times.

Nevertheless, she’d faced worse odds. She put on her coat and then pushed her shoulders back, before stepping confidently through the doors of the TARDIS, prepared to face almost anything.

*******

It was dark, wherever he was. A darkness he’d experienced before, but hadn’t realised he remembered until he’d found himself submersed in it once again. This was death. The place he’d skimmed after he’d succumbed to the 456 alien virus, before The Doctor had saved him. Then, he’d only brushed up against it, terrified of falling into it’s depths and never escaping again. This time he was there—fully immersed, cold, alone, confused, but also too aware of what had happened to him.

Except then there was a painful tug in his mid-section. Ianto gasped, folding in on himself but it did no good. He was being dragged, painfully, against an impossible resistance that kept trying to force him back down. But whatever had a hold on him was stronger and kept drawing him onward, like sliding over broken glass and white-hot coals, burning and scraping and scouring every inch of him inside and out.

Consciousness slammed into him and for a second, he could still feel it all. The sensation faded quickly though as his breathing evened out and worked out where he was. Except he couldn’t breathe properly after all, because someone was smothering the life out of him. Someone who smelled and felt familiar, his warmth a comforting cocoon he’d happily stay in for the rest of his life… so long as he got to breathe.

“Jack.” He weakly pushed back, but as he did, Jack practically dropped him, gaze colliding into his with absolute shock.

“ _Ianto?_ ”

“Last time I checked,” he replied with a small smile. He felt exhausted. And sticky. Had he and Jack been— He glanced down at his chest. Nope, that was blood. Everything came rushing back at him and he shuddered at an echo of the terror he’d felt before Jack had slipped away from him, and then everything had gone black.

“Ianto!” Jack gathered him close again, a laugh that sounded suspiciously like a sob escaping him. “You’re okay. You were dead, but you’re okay!”

Jack suddenly pulled back again. “Wait. How are you okay?”

Before he could answer, Jack was tearing at his shirt, pushing the bloody material out of the way. Ianto stared down at his unblemished chest. There wasn’t any evidence of where John had shot him.

“But this is like when—” Jack sounded dazed.

“Like when you revive,” he replied warily, looking up to catch Jack’s confused gaze.

“Can you walk?” Jack stood and then bent down to help him to his feet. He felt a little unsteady, but considering he’d been dead a few minutes ago, he was doing pretty damn well. He couldn’t believe he’d died and come back, just like Jack did. Wait. Did that mean— Had he somehow become like Jack? _Immortal?_ He didn’t know whether he should be ecstatic or terrified about it. But how had it even happened?

Jack wrapped an arm around his waist and led him over to one of the seats, settling him down and then hurrying over to the TARDIS control console.

“Just sit still, I’m going to run some scans.”

He slouched, not feeling like he was going to go do a marathon or anything. He looked around, suddenly realising they were alone. “Where are the others?”

“They went out,” Jack replied distractedly.

Went out? He got the feeling there was more to it, but Jack clearly wasn’t going to answer his questions with the way he was staring at the TARDIS’s control screen. And anyway, how had Athena gone anywhere at all without him?

He straightened in his seat, shock and panic flaring through him as he realised she was _gone_. No longer in his head.

“Athena—”

This time Jack did look over at him. “She’s fine—for now. When John shot you both and then you— The TARDIS saved her. For the moment, Athena is part of the TARDIS.”

“Thank God.” He blew out a relieved breath and leaned back again.

Jack was shaking his head, as if he didn’t understand something.

“What is it?” he asked, when Jack stayed silent.

“It’s gone. It’s all gone.”

Climbing to his feet, he walked over to stand beside Jack so he could read the screen. Unfortunately, what he saw made no sense to him whatsoever.

“The Time Vortex energy inside you. It’s all gone. I think that’s what brought you back, but there was only enough for a one-time deal.”

“So I’m not like you?”

Jack shook his head, a strange combination of relief and sadness crossing his features. “No, you’re not like me. You’re still mortal.”

Jack wrapped an arm around him, drawing him closer. “That’s not the only thing. The biochip is gone as well.”

“It is?” he demanded, unable to hide the incredulity in his voice. He laughed when Jack nodded. “Well, there you go then. All I had to do to get rid of it was die.”

Jack frowned at him.

“Too soon?” He sent Jack a smile, wanting to take the shadows from his grey-blue eyes.

“It will always be too soon for you to joke about being dead.”

Jack drew him in for a hug, and Ianto rested his head on Jack’s shoulder, sinking into the embrace.

“So, no Time Vortex energy, no biochip and no Athena. I’m just me again.” The relief that flowed through him as all the information sunk in was profound. Not to mention the fact he’d survived another death.

Jack leaned back and cupped his face, until their eyes met. “Don’t underestimate yourself. Being _just you_ is everything I want.”

He shifted in, meeting Jack halfway, their lips pressing softly together. For the first time since The Doctor had revived him from the 456 virus, he entirely sank into the kiss—he didn’t have to worry about accidentally killing Jack, or Athena feeling everything he felt, or even The Doctor’s no kissing on the TARDIS rule. Though, he got the feeling that had been more for his benefit because The Doctor had understood how uncomfortable he’d felt about anything happening between the two of them when Athena was privy to every moment, whereas Jack had seemed a bit blasé about it.

Except Jack broke the kiss too soon, pulling back with an uneven breath, leaving disappointment streaming through him.

“Come on.” Jack stepped back but took his hand and tugged him into motion.

“Where are we going?”

Jack tossed him a rueful look. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re both covered in blood. Think a shower might be on the cards.”

Oh. Well. He wasn’t going to argue with that.

They hurried along, through the bedroom they’d been using to the adjoining bathroom. They’d barely stepped inside before they were tugging desperately at each other’s clothes, mouths fusing together in a hungry kiss. It had been like this so many times back at Torchwood in Cardiff—God, it felt like a million years ago now—when either Jack had died and revived or Ianto had experienced one of his many, many near misses. As soon as they’d been able to get each other alone, a desperation had driven both of them. The need to reaffirm life. To be stripped down to their most basic selves and share a perfect moment of euphoria to wash away the lingering fear or apprehension.

Clothes fell at their feet and got kicked aside before Jack reached out to turn on the water. He hustled Jack backward, not letting Jack check the temperature—usually the water came on at the perfect heat anyway.

He pressed Jack back against the wall, shivering as the water cascaded over both of them. Jack’s hands were pulling him in harder, as if they could somehow get closer than they already were—plastered up against one another from chest to thighs.

Jack suddenly spun them, slowing the kiss, dragging a low moan out of him. He sank back against the wall, giving himself over to the ecstasy Jack’s touch was building within him. With a trail of nips and kisses, Jack shifted until his mouth was against Ianto’s ear, and then proceeded to tell him exactly what he needed, leaving a shudder ripping through his body at just the idea of it.

“Yes, God, yes,” he replied, before catching Jack’s mouth in another melting kiss.

Conscious thought fled his mind, sensation taking over completely as Jack thoroughly made love to him, stretching out every moment, as if needing to imprint it all on his memory. Maybe that was exactly what he was doing.

When Ianto finally came—follow shortly by Jack—it wasn’t just a physical release, but emotional as well, everything he felt for Jack thrown into sharp relief. Nothing had ever been that intense. Or felt so right. No matter what else happened, the inescapable fact that he belonged to Jack—mind, body, and soul—was as fixed in the universe as the very stars themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are at the end of another part of The Timeless Chronicles. Sorry this one ended on a small cliff hanger with The Doctor going off to face The Timeless, but hopefully the next part will be worth the wait. The next part will be the last -- I had thought about making it longer, because the adventures The Doctor, Ianto and Jack could have are endless, but I've got lots of other things I'd like to write and it felt like the story line with the Timeless was ready to come to an end. There may be a small hiatus before I get the last part written (busy with lots of life stuff at the moment!) but I will get it written and posted as soon as I can.   
> Thanks for reading this far, and a special thanks to everyone who has given kudos or comments. It always makes my day to know that people are enjoying my stories.


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